African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12487

Full Length Research Paper

Germination at low osmotic potential as a selection criteria for drought stress tolerance in sweet corn

Shahriari
  • Shahriari
  • Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
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Ali Adam B. Puteh
  • Ali Adam B. Puteh
  • Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
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Ghizan B. Saleh
  • Ghizan B. Saleh
  • Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
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Anuar B. Abdul Rahim
  • Anuar B. Abdul Rahim
  • Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
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  •  Accepted: 26 June 2013
  •  Published: 08 January 2014

Abstract

Water stress can affect germination by decreasing the percentage of germination. A study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of different osmotic potentials (MPa) on proline content and percentage seed germination of corn. The experiment was conducted in factorial with a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Seeds of two open pollinated varieties (Masmadu and Thai super sweet) and three hybrids (968, 969 and 926) sweet corn were germinated at 0, -0.2, -0.5, -0.7, -1.2 and -1.4 MPa osmotic potentials, respectively. Results show that the percentage of germination and coefficient of velocity (CVG) decreased with decrease in osmotic potential while proline content and mean germination time (MGT) increased. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) increased root length (RL) and length per volume (LPV) at low osmotic potential (-0.2 MPa) but decreased at more than -0.7 MPa. Seedling proline content appears not to be related to percentage germination but appears to be related to the decline in osmotic potential in germination media. Seed germination test at -0.7 to -1.2 MPa has the potential to be used as a vigor test in sweet corn.

 

Key words: Osmotic potential, germination, polyethylene glycol, corn, proline content.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations: MPa, Mega Pascal; OP,      osmotic potential; MGT, mean germination time; CVG, coefficient velocity of germination; PEG,            polyethylene glycol; G (%), germination percentage; RL, root length; LPV, length per volume; RV, root volume; AD, average root diameter; T.S.S., Thai super sweet; H, hybrid.

Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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