Germination Behaviour and Biochemical Contents of <I>Quercus glauca</I> Thunb. Acorns in Relation to Pre-Sowing Treatments and Acorn Sizes

T. Amare; D. R. Bhardwaj

doi:10.36808/if/2017/v143i6/115826

Germination Behaviour and Biochemical Contents of Quercus glauca Thunb. Acorns in Relation to Pre-Sowing Treatments and Acorn Sizes

Authors

T. Amare Hawassa University, Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Shashemene
D. R. Bhardwaj Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, College of Forestry, 173 230 Nauni, Solan (HP)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2017/v143i6/115826

Keywords:

Cold Stratification, GA, Biochemical, Water Treatment.

Abstract

Like many other oak species in the Himalayas Quercus glauca forests are facing sever degradation and regeneration problem which calls for forest restoration and supplementary planting program. Understanding germination behavior of the species is crucial to meet the demand of better quality seedlings in the required amount. The current study examined the effect of seven pre-sowing seed treatments and three acorn sizes on germination traits and biochemical content of Q. glauca acorns. The results suggested that all pre-sowing treatments had better germination performance than the control while application of GA at the concentration of 100 ppm had the best germination traits. The concentration of Soluble 3 protein, starch and total sugar of treated acorns was closely related to germination per cent of those treatments in which these biochemical contents decreased with increasing germination per cents. Total phenol content was closely related to moisture content of treated acorns, as it decreased with increase in moisture content. Likewise, acorn size had significantly affected germination traits and biochemical contents of treated acorns. Bigger sized acorns had superior performance in germination and biochemical contents than medium and small sized ones. The study concluded the application of GA as 3 pre-sowing treatment and the use of bigger sized acorns to enhance germination per cent.

References

Adams J.C., Adams J.P. and Williams R.A. (2010). The use of gibberellic acid as a pre-sowing treatment for Cherrybark and nuttall oak acorns. In: th Proceedings of the 14 biennial southern silvicultural research conference (Stanturf J A ed). Gen. Tech. Rep. 199-200.

Alencar N.L.M., Innecco R., Gomes-Filho E., Gallao M.I., Alvarez-Pizarro J.C., Prisco J.T. and De Oliveira A.B. (2012). Seed reserve composition and mobilization during germination and early seedling establishment of Cereus jamacaru D.C. ssp. jamacaru (Cactaceae). Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, 84(3): 823-832.

Andrawulan N., Fardiaz D., Wattimena G.A. and Shetty K. (1999). Antioxydant activity associated with lipid and phenolic mobilization during seed germination of Pangium. Journal of Agricultura Food Chemistry, 47(8): 3158-3163.

Birkedal M., Lof M., Olsson G.E. and Bergsten U. (2010). Effects of granivorous rodents on direct seeding of oak and beech in relation to site preparation and sowing date. Forest Ecology and Management, 259: 2382-2389

Brand D. and Rivo J. (1999). Soaking in cold water replaces stratification requirement of true cedar seeds. Horticultural Sciences, 34(5): 935.

Caliskan O., Mavi K. and Polat A. (2012). Influences of pre-sowing treatments on the germination and emergence of fig seeds (Ficus carica L.). Acta Scientiarum,34(3): 293-297

Castro-Colina L., Martinez R.M., Sanchez C.M.E., Sanchez C.M.E., Huante P., Mendoza A. and Orozco-Segovia A. (2012). Effect of hydropriming and acclimation treatments on Quercus rugosa acorns and seedlings. European Journal of Forest Resources, 131: 747â€“756.

Cervantes V., Carabias J. and Vazquez-Yanes C. (1996). Seed germination of woody legumes from deciduous tropical forests of southern Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management,82: 171-184.

Cole R.J., Holl K.D., Keene C.L. and Zahawi R.A. (2011). Direct seeding of late successional trees to restore tropical montane forest. Forest Ecology and Management,261: 1590-1597.

Doody C.N. and Oreilly C. (2008). Drying and soaking pretreatments affect germination in pedunculate oak. Annals of Forest Science, 65: 509.

Dubois M., Gilles K., Hamilton J. K., Rebers P.A. and Smith F. (1951). A colorimetric method for the determination of sugars. Nature, 168: 167.

Evans J. (1982). Plantation forestry in the tropics. Oxford university press. New York

Fu Q., Wang B.C., Jin X., Li H.B., Han P., Wuei K.H., Zhang X.M. and Zhu Y.X. (2005). Proteomic analysis and extensive protein identification from dry, germinating Arabdopsis seeds and young seedlings. J. Biochemistry and Molecular Biolgy., 38: 650-660.

Ghasemi M. and Khosh-Khui M. (2007). Effects of stratification and growth regulators on seed germination and seedling growth of Quercus ilex L. J. Plant Sciences, 2(3): 341-346.

Ghildiyal S.K., Sharma C.M. and Gairola S. (2009). Effect of cold stratification on the germination of seeds of chirpine (Pinus roxburghii Sargent) from Indian Himalayan Region. Nature and Science, 7(8): 36-43.

Higo M., Shiohara A. and Kodama S. (1995). The regeneration behavior of major component species in the secondary forest dominated by Pinus densiflora and Quercus serrata in central Japan. Forest Ecology and Management, 76: 1-10.

Ito S., Ohtsuka K. and Yamashita T. (2007). Ecological distribution of seven evergreen Quercus species in southern and eastern Kyushu, Japan. Vegetation Sciences, 24: 53â€“63.

KumarY.and MataN.K. (2011).Changingprotein profiles in developing and germinating barely seeds. Annals of Biological research,2(6):318-329.

Landergott U., Gugerli F., Hoebee S.E., Finkeldey R. and Holderegger R. (2012). Effects of seed mass on seedling height and competition in European white oaks. Flora, 207: 721-725.

Lommasson R.C. (1986). Red Oak Germination and Seedling Survival in Prairie Habitats. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies ,14: 51-54.

Lowry O.H., Rosebrough N.J., Fan A.L. and Randal R.J. (1951). Protein measurement with Folinâ€“Phenol reagent. J. Biological Chemistry, 193: 265-275.

Malick C.P. and Singh M.B. (1980). Phenolics. In: Plant enzymology and histo enzymology, Kalyanl Publishers, New Delhi. 286P.

Maren I.E. and Vetaas O.R. (2007). Does regulated landuse allow regeneration of keystone forest species in the Annapurna conservation area, central Himalaya. Mountain Research and Development, 27(4): 345-351.

Navarro L. and Guitian J. (2003). Seed germination and seedling survival of two threatened endemic species of the northwest Iberian peninsula. Biological Conservation, 109: 313-320.

Orwa C., Mutua A., Kindt R., Jamnadass R., and Simons A. (2009). Agroforestree Database: a tree reference and selection guide version 4.0. www.worldagroforestry.org/af/treedb/

Ozbingol N. and O'reilly C. (2005). Increasing acorn moisture content followed by freeing-storage enhances germination in pedunculate oak. Forestry, 78(1): 73-81.

Petritan A.M., Biris I.A., Merce O., Turcu D.O. and Petritan I.C. (2012). Structure and diversity of a natural temperate sessile oak (Quercus petraea L.)- European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 280: 140-149.

Pritchard S.L., Charlton W.L., Baker A.A. and Grahan I.A. (2002). Germination and storage reserve mobilization are regulated independently in Arabdopsis. Plant Journal, 31: 639-647.

Ren J. and Tao L. (2004). Effects of different pre-sowing seed treatments on germination of 10 Calligonum species. Forest Ecology and Management, 195: 291-300.

Satyanarayana B., Devi P.S. and Arundhati A. (2011). Biochemical changes during seed germination of Sterculia urens Roxb. Notulae Scientia Biologicae, 3(3): 105-108.

Sharma P. Sehgal R.N. and Raj A. (2010). Natural regeneration of Pinus gerardiana in dry temperate forests of Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh). Indian J. Forestry, 33(4): 511-518.

Shrestha B.B. (2003). Quercus semecarpifolia Sm. in the Himalayan region: Ecology, exploitation and threats. Himalayan J. Sciences. 1(2): 126-128.

Singh B., Saklani K.P. and Bhatt B.P. (2010). Provenance variation in seed and seedling attributes of Quercus glauca Thunb. In Garhwal Himalaya, India. Dendrobiology, 63: 59-63.

Singh G. and Rawat G.S. (2012). Depletion of Oak (Quercus spp.) forests in the Western Himalaya: Grazing, Fuelwood and Fodder Collection. In: Global perspectives on sustainable forest management (Okia C. A. ed). In Tech publisher. PP. 29-42.

Soltani A., Gholipor M. and Zeinali E. (2006). Seed reserve utilization and seedling growth of wheat as affected by drought and salinity. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 55: 195-200.

StruveD.K. (1998). Seed conditioning of red oak: a recalcitrant North American seed. Sc. agric., Piracicaba, 55: 67-73.

Suresha N.L., Balachandra H.C. and Shivanna H. (2007). Effect of seed size on germination, viability and seedling biomass on Sapindus emerginatus (Linn). Karnataka J. Agricultural Sciences, 20(2): 326-327.

Troup R.S. (1921). The silviculture of Indian trees. Volume III. Oxford University Press, London. P. 943.

Venudevan B. and Srimathi P. (2013). Influence of seed polymorphism on physical, physiological and biochemical of seed quality characters of endangered medicinal tree Bael (Aegle marmelos (I.) Corr.). Scientific Research and Essays, 8(30): 1413-1419.

Zulfiqar, Khan S.M. and Ahmad H. (2015). Effect of pre-sowing treatments on seed germination in Quercus glauca Thunb., collected from different sampling sites of the Himalayan region of Pakistan. Inter. J. Biosciences, 6(11): 42-48.