Effect of imbibition treatments on the germination of Stenocereus zopilotensis (Cactaceae) native from Guerrero, Mexico

Abstract

The prickly pear cactus “tuna pelona” (Stenocereus zopilotensis), is an endemic cactus species from the state of Guerrero, Mexico, it develops in semi-arid areas and has great ecological importance as it houses and forms part of the diet of multiple species in its niche. There is a constant threat to natural populations of this species due to the overexploitation of seedling collections in the f ield by unregulated trade. In order to design an alternative for the conservation management of these species, the objective of the work was to evaluate treatments for the imbibition of “hairless tuna” seeds to promote germination and the successful establishment of seedlings with economic technologies for the farmers of the area. Fruits of "tuna pelona" (S. zopilotensis) were collected, near the community of Xalitla, municipality of Tepecoacuilco de Trujano, Guerrero; the seeds were stored for 70 and 273 days after collection (dac) at room temperature in order to maintain adequate conditions for the conservation of viability until reaching dormancy. In the stored seeds, the effect of soaking treatments was evaluated: 0, 6, 12, 24 and 12 hours in water plus another treatment that consisted of immersion in a plant-based hormonal stimulant. The germination percentage per treatment was evaluated, it was found that the control treatment (zero hours in water) of seeds stored at 70 dac only obtained 2.4% of germination. The treatment of soaking in water and in the hormonal stimulant both for 6 h presented the highest germination values with 48.6 and 44.4% respectively when using seeds of 273 dac at 14 days after the application of the treatments. These results will allow the massive production of seedlings of the species for reforestation and regional marketing purposes.

Efecto de la edad de las semillas en la germinación de especies nativas de los pastizales del altiplano del norte de México

“…es común observar que requieren cierto tiempo después de almacenarse para germinar y poder romper su latencia fisiológica (Mandujano et al 2005) y se ha observado que ciertos hongos (Peni cillium chrysogenum, Phoma sp., Trichoderma koningii y T. harzanium) contribuyen a reducir su resistencia mecánica a la germinación (Delgado- Sánchez et al 2011). Para semillas de otras cactáceas como Stenocereus zopilotensis (Arreola-Nava & Terrazas 2004), conservadas a temperatura ambiente, existen reportes de que los porcentajes de germinación fueron mayores a los 273 días después de colectadas las semillas que a los 70 días tras su colecta para todos los tratamientos pre-germinativos, excepto el testigo y el remojo en agua por 24 horas (Monteon-Ojeda et al 2021).…”

Physical and Chemical Scarification on Dormancy Breaking of Rosary Pea Seeds (Abrus Precatorius L.)

“…The most important factor in this germination is imbibition. Because of the entry of water into the seeds, it can stimulate the amylase enzyme to convert starch into sugar which will be translocated to the radicle and plumule 5,8,14 The histogram shows that chemical scarification (K1 and K2) was better in increasing the germination of rosary pea seeds (Abrus precatorius L.) than physical scarification (F1 and F2) which can be seen in Figure 1. Rosary pea seeds that were soaked in H2SO4 at different times can affect germination (Saila et al, 2016).…”