Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T03:24:47.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ecophysiology of deep simple epicotyl morphophysiological dormancy in seeds of Gagea lutea (Liliaceae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2007

T. Kondo*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8589, Japan
T. Miura
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8589, Japan
N. Okubo
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8589, Japan
M. Shimada
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8589, Japan
C. Baskin
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0225, USA Department of Agronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40546–0091, USA
J. Baskin
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0225, USA
*
*Correspondence Fax: +81 11 706 2805 Email: [email protected]

Abstract

The effects of temperature on embryo growth, radicle emergence and cotyledon emergence of Gagea lutea (Liliaceae), a perennial herb widely distributed in Europe, eastern Siberia, the Kurile Islands, Sakhalin and the Far East, were monitored outdoors and in laboratory tests. In Japan, this species inhabits open secondary grasslands and deciduous forests. Seeds with an underdeveloped embryo are dispersed in late May/early June in Hokkaido. The embryo elongates in autumn, and the radicle emerges from the seed in mid-October to mid-November, at temperatures of about 15/4°C. However, cotyledons do not emerge until April, after seeds with an emerged radicle are covered with snow (near 0°C) for about 4 months. In laboratory experiments, temperatures of 25/15°C or 20/10°C followed by 5–10°C were required for embryo growth and radicle emergence. Rate and percentage of cotyledon emergence were promoted by keeping seeds with an emerged radicle under snow. The optimum temperature for cotyledon emergence after 81 d under snow was 15/5°C. Thus, G. lutea has deep simple epicotyl morphophysiological dormancy, and this is the first report of epicotyl dormancy in the genus.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, C.A., Baskin, J.M. and Baskin, C.C. (2003) Epicotyl dormancy in the mesic woodland herb Hexastylis heterophylla (Aristolochiaceae). Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 130, 1115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, C.C. and Baskin, J.M. (1998) Seeds: Ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. San Diego, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Baskin, J.M. and Baskin, C.C. (1983) Germination ecophysiology of the eastern deciduous forest herbs: Hydrophyllum macrophyllum. The American Midland Naturalist 109, 6371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, J.M. and Baskin, C.C. (1985a) Germination ecophysiology of Hydrophyllum appendiculatum, a mesic forest biennial. American Journal of Botany 72, 185190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, J.M. and Baskin, C.C. (1985b) Epicotyl dormancy in seeds of Cimicifuga racemosa and Hepatica acutiloba. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 112, 253257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, J.M. and Baskin, C.C. (1986) Seed germination ecophysiology of the woodland herb Asarum canadense. The American Midland Naturalist 116, 132139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, J.M., Baskin, C.C. and Li, X. (2000) Taxonomy, anatomy and evolution of physical dormancy in seeds. Plant Species Biology 15, 139152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harasawa, I. (1968) Gagea lutea and its parasitic fungi of west range of Musashi Province. Shokubutsu-to-shizen (The Nature and Plants) 2, 2628. (in Japanese)Google Scholar
Kondo, T., Okubo, N., Miura, T., Honda, K. and Ishikawa, Y. (2002) Ecophysiology of seed germination in Erythronium japonicum (Liliaceae) with underdeveloped embryos. American Journal of Botany 89, 17791784.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nikolaeva, M.G., Rasumova, M.V. and Gladkova, V.N. (1985) Reference book on dormant seed germination Danilova, M.F. (Ed.). Leningrad “Nauka” Publishers (in Russian).Google Scholar
Nishikawa, Y. (1998) The function of multiple flowers of a spring ephemeral, Gagea lutea (Liliaceae), with reference to blooming order. Canadian Journal of Botany 76, 14041411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nomizu, T., Niimi, Y. and Watanabe, E. (2004) Embryo development and seed germination of Hepatica nobilis Schreber var. japonica as affected by temperature after sowing. Scientia Horticulturae 99, 345352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, A. and Peterson, J. (1999) Genotypic differentiation on an individual level in Gagea villosa ( M. BIEB. ) DUBY, Gagea lutea (L.) KER - GAWLER and Gagea bohemica subsp. saxatilis ( KOCH ) PASCHER in Saxony-Anhalt using RAPD markers. Journal of Applied Botany 73, 228233.Google Scholar
Satake, Y., Ohwi, J., Kitamura, S., Watari, S. and Tominari, T. (1982) Wild flowers of Japan I herbaceous plants – monocotyledoneae. Tokyo, Japan Heibonsya (in Japanese).Google Scholar
Takahashi, H. and Tani, T. (1997) Life history of the spring ephemeral, Gagea lutea (Liliaceae) in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Miyabea 3, 1726.Google Scholar
Zubkova, E.K., Mamushina, N.S., Voitsekhovskaya, O.V. and Filippova, L.A. (1997) Respiratory metabolism of monocot ephemers under photosynthetic conditions in light. Russian Journal of Plant Physiology 44, 158165.Google Scholar