Articles
Dormancy breaking in seeds of the endangered species Scrophularia takesimensis
Article number
1467_22
Pages
191 – 196
Language
English
Abstract
The genus Scrophularia comprises approximately 300 species worldwide, and many of these have long been valued for medicinal use in East Asian countries, including Korea.
In Korea, 11 species of Scrophularia are found, among which Scrophularia takesimensis is endemic to Ulleung Island and is classified as an endangered species.
As this species is restricted to coastal habitats, conservation efforts are urgently needed due to increasing land development.
This study aimed to provide basic information for the propagation of S. takesimensis by determining whether its seeds exhibit dormancy and identifying effective methods to break that dormancy.
When seeds were incubated at various temperature regimes (25/15, 20/10, 15/6 (day/night), and 5°C (constant)), germination percentage remained generally low within four weeks, suggesting the presence of physiological dormancy.
To overcome this dormancy, cold stratification at 5°C was applied for 0, 4, 8, and 12 weeks, resulting in final germination percentage of 35, 79, 63, and 80%, respectively, indicating that cold stratification is effective for breaking seed dormancy.
In contrast, treatment with gibberellic acid (GA3) at concentrations of 0, 10, 100, and 1000 mg L‑1 did not result in statistically significant differences in germination, suggesting that GA3 does not effectively break dormancy in this species.
In conclusion, cold stratification at 5°C for more than 4 weeks is necessary for the successful mass propagation of S. takesimensis.
In Korea, 11 species of Scrophularia are found, among which Scrophularia takesimensis is endemic to Ulleung Island and is classified as an endangered species.
As this species is restricted to coastal habitats, conservation efforts are urgently needed due to increasing land development.
This study aimed to provide basic information for the propagation of S. takesimensis by determining whether its seeds exhibit dormancy and identifying effective methods to break that dormancy.
When seeds were incubated at various temperature regimes (25/15, 20/10, 15/6 (day/night), and 5°C (constant)), germination percentage remained generally low within four weeks, suggesting the presence of physiological dormancy.
To overcome this dormancy, cold stratification at 5°C was applied for 0, 4, 8, and 12 weeks, resulting in final germination percentage of 35, 79, 63, and 80%, respectively, indicating that cold stratification is effective for breaking seed dormancy.
In contrast, treatment with gibberellic acid (GA3) at concentrations of 0, 10, 100, and 1000 mg L‑1 did not result in statistically significant differences in germination, suggesting that GA3 does not effectively break dormancy in this species.
In conclusion, cold stratification at 5°C for more than 4 weeks is necessary for the successful mass propagation of S. takesimensis.
Authors
Y.H. Kwon, S.Y. Park, S.Y. Bang, S.Y. Oh, C.H. Ko, S.Y. Lee, Y.H. Rhie
Keywords
cold stratification, endemic species, germination, Korea peninsula
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