Germination of 151-year old Acacia spp. seeds

Abstract

A collection of seeds from five Acacia species was made in Egypt in 1856. Since then, the seeds have been stored at room temperature in different Swedish museums. Due to the extreme longevity within the seeds of Acacia and related species, germination tests were performed on the now 151-year old seed. Seeds of two of the five species tested germinated. The first, Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd., had two seeds germinate, and Acacia melanoxylon R. Br. ex Ait. f. had one seed germinate. In addition, DNA was extracted from the aged seed and DNA preservation was analyzed. Four of the tested species displayed well preserved DNA, whereas DNA from Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. showed signs of degradation. The 151-year longevity of the Acacia seeds is among the longest of dry-stored seeds reported. Several independent studies now report on extreme survival capacity for Acacia and related genera suggesting that these genera are suitable for studies on the characteristics of seeds with long storage performance. The results also demonstrate that herbaria and seed collections stored in museums and institutional depositories can be alternate sources of plants genetic material and should be given conservation attention.