Comparison of prechilling stratification and sulfuric acid scarification on seed germination of <i>Panicum virgatum</i> under drought stress

doi:10.15302/J-FASE-2017146

Front. Agr. Sci. Eng.

2017, Vol. 4

Issue (2) : 220-227 https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FASE-2017146

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Comparison of prechilling stratification and sulfuric acid scarification on seed germination of Panicum virgatum under drought stress

Nan WANG^1,²(

), Jing GAO³, Suiqi ZHANG², Feng YAN²

¹. Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712083, China
². Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
³. College of Pharmacy, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712046, China

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Abstract

In semi-arid regions of the Loess Plateau, water deficiency restricts plant performance. Panicum virgatum (switchgrass), which is a highly versatile grass, had been introduced to the Plateau as a restoration species. To determine if prechilling stratification (PCS) and sulfuric acid scarification (SAS) can optimize establishment,P. virgatum cvs Pathfinder, Trailblazer and Alamo were tested under different ambient water potentials by measuring germination and root and shoot growth along water potential gradients under laboratory conditions. Both PCS and SAS improved total germination percentage (TGP), with PCS being more beneficial. The effect of PCS and SAS on mean germination time (MGT) weakened gradually with increasing drought stress. Both PCS and SAS showed no obvious effect on promoting root and shoot growth. Both PCS and SAS reduced base water potential requirement for reaching 50% germination of Pathfinder and Trailblazer, with this effect greater for PCS. These results indicate that embryo dormancy may be a major factor limiting germination ofP. virgatum under drought conditions. Pathfinder appears to be more suitable for a semi-arid environment, whereas Alamo appears to be unsuitable for drought conditions. Given the large difference between predicted value and measured value, the reliability and applicable scope of linear regression estimated Y₅₀ needs further investigation, specification and optimization.

Keywords base water potential data analysis method embryo growth germination

Corresponding Author(s): Nan WANG

Just Accepted Date: 28 March 2017 Online First Date: 17 April 2017 Issue Date: 07 June 2017

Cite this article:

Nan WANG,Jing GAO,Suiqi ZHANG, et al. Comparison of prechilling stratification and sulfuric acid scarification on seed germination of Panicum virgatum under drought stress[J]. Front. Agr. Sci. Eng. , 2017, 4(2): 220-227.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/EN/10.15302/J-FASE-2017146
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/EN/Y2017/V4/I2/220

Fig.1 Cumulative germination time courses in polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000) with different treatments at 30°C for seeds ofPanicum virgatum (switchgrass) cv. Pathfinder (a, b and c), cv. Trailblazer (d, e and f) and cv. Alamo (g, h and i). Symbols represent the observed percentages with time at each water potential. PCS, prechilling stratification; SAS, sulfuric acid scarification; CK, control.

Variety	Treatment	Total germination/%	Mean germination time/d	Shoot length/mm	Root length/mm
P	Y/MPa	PCS	SAS	CK	Mean	PCS	SAS	CK	Mean	PCS	SAS	CK	Mean	PCS	SAS	CK	Mean
	0	84.4	81.1	74.4	80.0a	3.5	4.2	3.8	3.8a	22.4	19.4	19.3	20.4a	7.2	6.8	8.2	7.4a
	- 0.1	80.0	74.4	67.8	74.1ab	3.5	4.1	4.0	3.9a	21.5	18.4	18.4	19.4a	7.0	6.7	8.1	7.3a
	- 0.2	76.7	71.1	51.1	66.3ab	3.7	4.3	4.7	4.2ab	20.2	16.7	17.4	18.1a	7.0	6.0	8.0	7.0a
	- 0.3	74.4	57.8	35.6	55.9bc	3.9	4.3	3.5	3.9a	12.5	11.0	12.5	12.0b	4.3	4.8	5.1	4.7b
	- 0.4	48.9	37.8	37.8	41.5cd	3.9	4.5	4.5	4.3a	6.8	5.8	9.5	7.4c	3.5	3.8	4.7	4.0b
	- 0.5	44.4	27.8	26.7	33.0d	4.4	4.8	4.5	4.6b	4.8	5.3	7.5	5.9c	3.3	3.7	4.3	3.8b
	Mean	68.1	58.3	48.9		3.8	4.4	4.2		14.7	12.8	14.1		5.4	5.3	6.4
	Sig.	Y *			*				*				*
		Treatment ns			ns				ns				ns
		Y x treatment ns			ns				ns				ns
T	0	71.1	67.8	67.8	68.9a	3.3	3.7	3.8	3.6a	20.5	19.4	18.0	19.3a	9.5	8.3	8.3	8.7a
	- 0.1	71.1	61.1	61.1	64.4a	3.5	3.6	4.2	3.8a	20.0	18.1	17.6	18.6a	9.3	7.9	8.3	8.5a
	- 0.2	70.0	57.8	57.8	61.9ab	3.4	3.9	4.8	4.0ab	19.2	16.8	17.0	17.7a	9.2	7.8	8.1	8.4a
	- 0.3	61.1	51.1	27.8	46.7bc	3.6	4.2	4.2	4.0a	13.4	9.4	9.1	10.6b	6.4	5.7	5.8	6.0b
	- 0.4	42.2	36.7	27.8	35.5cd	4.4	4.4	5.4	4.7b	8.6	7.4	7.6	7.9c	5.7	5.2	5.7	5.5b
	- 0.5	34.4	22.2	18.9	25.2d	4.6	4.5	5.4	4.8b	6.3	5.6	5.5	5.8c	4.7	4.1	4.4	4.4c
	Mean	58.3	49.4	43.5		3.8	4.1	4.6		14.7	12.8	12.5		7.5	6.5	6.8
	Sig.	Y *			*				*				*
		Treatment ns			ns				ns				ns
		Y x treatment ns			ns				ns				ns
A	0	38.9	35.6	34.4	36.3a	4.4	4.4	4.8	4.5a	30.3	29.1	28.3	29.2a	11.6	12.3	12.9	12.3a
	- 0.1	34.4	31.1	31.1	32.2ab	4.3	4.5	4.6	4.5a	26.9	26.5	26.3	26.6b	10.7	11.3	12.2	11.4ab
	- 0.2	28.9	27.8	27.8	28.2b	4.2	4.3	4.7	4.4a	23.7	23.6	21.5	22.9c	9.9	10.5	10.4	10.3bc
	- 0.3	26.7	18.9	18.9	21.5c	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.6a	18.7	16.3	14.8	16.6d	9.5	10.1	8.1	9.2cd
	- 0.4	15.6	14.4	11.1	13.7d	4.6	4.9	5.0	4.8a	11.1	10.9	11.8	11.3e	8.9	9.2	7.9	8.7d
	- 0.5	12.2	11.1	8.9	10.7d	5.3	4.8	4.6	4.9a	9.5	9.2	9.0	9.2f	8.5	8.3	6.9	7.9d
	Mean	26.1	23.1	22.0		4.6	4.6	4.7		20.0	19.3	18.6		9.9	10.3	9.7
	Sig.	Y *			ns				*				*
		Treatment ns			ns				ns				ns
		Y x treatment ns			ns				ns				*

Tab.1 Effect of seed treatments and water potential (Y) on total germination percentage (n = 3), mean germination time (n = 3), and shoot (n = 10) and root (n = 10) length in germinating seeds for three cultivars of Panicum virgatum (switchgrass). P, cv. Pathfinder; T, cv. Trailblazer; A, cv. Alamo. PCS, prechilling stratification; SAS, sulfuric acid scarification

Tab.2 Time taken to reach 50% emergence (t₅₀) for two cultivars of Panicum virgatum (switchgrass) estimated by three equations. P, cv. Pathfinder; T, cv. Trailblazer. PCS, prechilling stratification; SAS, sulfuric acid scarification

Fig.2 Relationships between water potential (Y) of solution and theoretical time to 50% germination (t₅₀) in seeds of Panicum virgatum (switchgrass) cv. Pathfinder (a, b and c) and cv. Trailblazer (d, e and f) at 30°C. Data were fitted by linear regression to predict the base water potential for reaching 50% germination (Y₅₀) under treatments.

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