Influence of various temperatures, seed priming treatments and durations on germination and growth of the medicinal plant Aspilia africana

Abstract

For millennia, Aspilia africana has been used across Africa to treat various diseases including malaria, wounds, and diabetes. In this study, temperature influenced the in vitro germination of A. africana with highest final germination percentage (FGP) and germination index (GI) of 65.0 ± 7.64% and 2.26 ± 0.223, respectively, at 19.8 °C. Priming seeds with H2O, KNO3, and GA3 (gibberellic acid 3) improved both in vitro germination and ex vitro emergence of A. africana seeds. Seed priming with $$1.44 \times 10^{ - 3 }$$ 1.44 × 10 - 3 M GA3 produced overall highest in vitro FGP (from 90.0 ± 4.08% to 100 ± 0.00%) and GI (from 2.97 ± 0.385 to 3.80 ± 0.239) across all priming durations. Seeds primed with KNO3 had better germination parameters for 6 and 12 h compared to 18 and 24 h. Furthermore, the highest in vitro FGP (100 ± 0.00%) was observed in seeds primed for 12 h with $$1.44 \times 10^{ - 3 }$$ 1.44 × 10 - 3 M GA3. Ex vitro A. africana seed emergence was significantly enhanced by GA3 priming. Priming A. africana seeds with H2O, KNO3, and GA3 improved their growth after 3 months, with the overall best growth for seeds primed with $$2.89 \times 10^{ - 4 }$$ 2.89 × 10 - 4 M GA3. Seed priming of A. africana is a feasible approach for improving germination and seed emergence, and enhancing plant growth.

Metabolically versatile psychrotolerant Antarctic bacterium Pseudomonas sp. ANT_H12B is an efficient producer of siderophores and accompanying metabolites (SAM) useful for agricultural purposes

“…Positive role of various metabolites was shown also in other seed germination experiments e.g., priming of triticale ( Triticale hexaploide L.) seeds with melatonin resulted in increased germination rate by 57.67% [ 66 ]. In other experiments it was shown that treatment of seeds with gibberellic acid and/or Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) improved germination parameters and subsequent cultivation of Masson pine ( Pinus massoniana ) and Aspilia Africana [ 67 , 68 ]. PGP potential of bacterial metabolite was studied in germination tests of pepper and maize, where treatment with cell free supernatant from Bacillus sp.…”

An insight into seed priming response of Crotalaria ochroleuca and Crotalaria spectabilis during storage

“…Its positive impacts including rapid and uniform plant establishment, early vigor, and yield gains, have been observed in various medicinal species including seeds of Foeniculum vulgare Mill (Tahaei et al, 2016), Lepidium sativum L., Ocimum basilicum L. (Noorhosseini et al, 2018) and Aspilia africana (Pers.) C. D. Adams (Okello et al, 2022).…”