Effect of maturation time on dormancy and germination of Citrullus colocynthis (Cucurbitaceae) seeds from the Arabian hyper-arid deserts

Abstract

BackgroundLight and temperatures of germination greatly affect germination of several Cucurbitaceae species. Environmental conditions prevailing at seed maturation time can affect dormancy and germination requirements. Citrullus colocynthis seeds have a deep dormancy. This perennial prostrate shrub grows all over the year in the arid Arabian deserts. We explored if seed dormancy and germination requirements of C. colocynthis depend on time of fruit collection. Matured seeds were collected at five different times during 2014/2015 year from a population around Dubai city. Fresh seeds were germinated at three temperature regimes in both continuous darkness and alternating 12 h light/12 h darkness. Impacts of seed storage and other treatments on germination were applied on seeds collected in March and exhibited deep dormancy.ResultsMarch collected seeds almost did not germinate in both light and dark at the three temperatures, but those of the other collections responded differently to both light and temperatures. At the lowest temperatures, seeds of all collections did not germinate in light, but those of June, October and December collections germinated in dark. There were negative correlations between final germination and seed length, width, mass and coat thickness. Physical scarification, water soaking and seed storage did not break dormancy of March collection.ConclusionsGermination of C. colocynthis is very sensitive to light and incubation temperature as well as to the environmental conditions associated with the time of seed maturation. It is important to investigate the effects of environmental factors prevailing during seed maturation under controlled conditions to understand exact reasons for unusual seed dormancy and germination requirements of C. colocynthis, which seems to be very sensitive to maternal environment.

Evaluating germinability of eight desert halophytes under long-term seed storage: Implications for conservation

“…setifera as there was significant increase in percentage and rate of germination. Such result indicates that storage did not affect seed viability of this species, but might changed phytochrome sensitivity in dark (Casal and Sánchez, 1998, El-Keblawy et al., 2017b).…”

Analysis of the Effect of Scarification Process on Papaya (Carica papayaLin.) Seeds Germination

“…To correlate characters related to seed germination, is important to investigate the effects of environmental factors prevailing during seed maturation under controlled conditions to understand exact reasons for unusual seed dormancy and germination requirements, for example, the germination of Citrullus colocynthis (Cucurbitaceae) is very sensitive to light and incubation temperature as well as to the environmental conditions associated with the time of seed maturation [67] and seed dormancy is a temporary failure of a viable seed to complete germination under normally favorable physical environmental conditions [33].…”

Correction to: Effect of maturation time on dormancy and germination of Citrullus colocynthis (Cucurbitaceae) seeds from the Arabian hyper-arid deserts

“…Following publication of the original article [ 1 ] author Hatem Shabana wrote to say that one of her affiliations was missing. The affiliation is as follows:…”