Author:
Batty A. L.,Dixon K. W.,Brundrett M.,Sivasithamparam K.
Abstract
The impact of seed drying, seed storage and development of testing procedures
for seed viability assessment was undertaken for a selection of common taxa
with congeners that are rare and endangered (Caladenia,
Diuris, Pterostylisand
Thelymitra). Freshly collected seed showed significantly
lower levels of germination compared with seed that had been subjected to
drying over silica gel for 24 h. Seed dried over silica gel for 24 h and
plunged into liquid nitrogen exhibited a further increase in germination
levels. Germination of seed stored at 4, 18 or 22˚C for 1 year was
substantially higher than freshly collected seed (4 weeks after dehiscence),
but germination was highest overall after storage of dried seed in liquid
nitrogen (–196˚C). Mycorrhizal fungi that promote the germination
and growth of plants were also successfully preserved in liquid nitrogen. The
use of cryoprotectants on fungal isolates had no observable deleterious
effects on fungal regeneration. Histochemical staining procedures
(tetrazolium, fluorescein diacetate and Evans blue) substantially
overestimated seed viability, relative to symbiotic seed germination, for most
seed treatments indicating a need for re-evaluation of the effectiveness of
staining procedures for testing viability. The implications of the long-term
ex situ storage of orchid seed and fungal symbionts for
the conservation of endangered orchids is discussed.
Subject
Plant Science,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cited by
72 articles.
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