A Multi-year Beneficial Effect of Seed Priming with Gibberellic Acid-3 (GA3) on Plant Growth and Production in a Perennial Grass, Leymus chinensis

Abstract

Seed priming is a widely used technique in crops to obtain uniform germination and high-quality seedlings. In this study, we found a long-term effect of seed priming with gibberellic acid-3 (GA3) on plant growth and production in Leymus chinensis. Seeds were germinated on agar plates containing 0–200 μM GA3, and the germinated seedlings were transplanted to clay planting pots and grown for about one year. The clonal tillers grown from the mother plants were transplanted to field conditions in the second year. Results showed that GA3 treatment significantly increased seed germination rate by 14–27%. GA3 treatment also promoted subsequent plant growth and biomass production, as shown by a significant increase in plant height, tiller number, and fresh and dry weight in both pot (2016) and field (2017) conditions. It is particularly noteworthy that the growth-promoting effect of a single seed treatment with GA3 lasted for at least two years. In particular, GA3 treatment at 50 μM increased aboveground fresh and dry weight by 168.2% and 108.9% in pot-grown conditions, and 64.5% and 126.2% in field-grown conditions, respectively. These results imply a transgenerational transmission mechanism for the GA-priming effect on clonal offspring growth and biomass production in L. chinensis.

Study of Germination Efficiency and Temperature/Drowning Resistance in some Ornamental Plants treated with Ultra High Dilute Compounds

“…Increased levels of this hormone match the results of physiological seed germination (Figure 3a) and protein production (Figure 3c). The amount of GA3 responsible for increasing seed growth and the ability to use the nutrient content is increased [27]. In contrast, the level of GA4, which is responsible for cell differentiation [28,29], does not increase.…”

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Loaded Polymeric Nanoparticle Synthesis and Its Effect on Biomass in Medicago sativa Cell Suspension Cultures

“…However, in some studies on PGRs, it is known that PGRs given after optimum dose negatively affect biomass. For example, Ma et al reported the negative effects of GA3 over 50 µM in Leymus chinensis [35]. Therefore, the use of various PGRs in nanocarriers can positively affect plant growth and biomass by preventing the achievement of supra-optimal levels by enabling the slow and sustained release of the active substance [11].…”

Herbivore dung stoichiometry drives competition between savanna trees and grasses

“…Mid‐November 2016, we sowed the tree and grass seeds in germination trays in the greenhouse at the VUB. To increase germination rates, we soaked grass seeds in gibberellic acid‐3 (50 µM) overnight (Ma et al., 2018). Tree seeds were scarified by removing a small section of the seed coat (Rugemalila et al., 2017) and soaked for 4 hr in lukewarm water.…”