FEATURES OF SEED GERMINATION AND EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FAMILY RANUNCULACEAE

Abstract

The ability of seeds to maintain viability for a long time without germination is one of the most important adaptive properties of plants. The article analyzes the dormancy types of seeds of the Ranunculacea family and describes the key factors affecting seed germination and embryo development (warm and cold stratification, exposure to gibberellic acid) under artificially created conditions. It is noted that five levels of seed morphophysiological dormancy are described for the representatives of this family: non-deep simple, deep simple, deep simple epicotyl, intermediate complex and deep complex, which are mainly associated with adaptation to survival in difficult climatic conditions. In the review, various types of dormancy are considered in terms of their adaptive significance for representatives of the Ranunculacea family. To overcome each type of dormancy, a set of optimal conditions is necessary, which correlates with the growing conditions of species or individual populations in natural conditions. Therefore, the development of techniques for overcoming the seeds dormancy under artificial conditions is closely related with the study of the ecology of a particular species and the natural conditions of growth. The analysis of literature data revealed a significant problem: 40 % of the analyzed sources did not indicate the type of dormancy of seeds of the representatives of the Ranunculaceae family and, probably, the list of morphophysiological dormancy levels will be supplemented in the course of further studies.