Miscanthus Seed Germination Enhanced by Gibberellin Treatment

Min Jung Yook1   Ji Soo Lim1,2   Jihoon Chung1,3   Do Soon Kim1,*   

1Department of Plant Science, Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
2GBT2 PJT, LG Chem, LG Science Park, Seoul 07796, Korea
3Food Research Institute, CJ CheilJedang, Suwon 16495, Korea

Abstract

Miscanthus spp. is a perennial rhizomatous C4 grass and used to be considered as a weed in orchard and riparian areas. Due to its unique phenotypic characteristics, it has also been considered as a promising multifunctional plant for biomass, gardening, and conservation. However, its propagation is mainly been made using rhizomes rather than seeds due to its improper seed propagation method. Therefore, we investigated the effects of exogenous chemicals, GA3, KNO3, NaClO and prochloraz, to improve seed germination. Miscanthus seeds placed on petri dish were treated with GA3, KNO3, NaClO and prochloraz solutions at a range of concentrations and daily germinated seeds were recorded. Among the tested chemicals, GA3 showed the best performance in improving seed germination of both Miscanthus species (Miscanthus sacchariflorus, dkwlMiscanthus sinensis) with particular increase in germination rate. In the cases of the other chemicals, seed germination was slightly improved at lower concentrations of KNO3 and NaClO, while decreased at higher concentrations and with increasing prochloraz concentration. Our study concluded that 50 mg/L GA3 and 10 mg/L GA3 are the most effective chemical treatments for improving seed germination of M. sacchariflorus and M. sinensis, respectively. Our findings can be used for the mass propagation of Miscanthus spp. by their seeds and for seed germination study of other grass species.

Figures & Tables

Fig. 1. Cumulative germination rate (%) of (A) and (B) treated with GA. The curves and symbols represent the fitted lines with the Gompertz model and the observed germination rates, respectively.