Growth Regulators and Prickly Sida Seed Dormancy

Abstract

Dormant (fresh) and nondormant (afterripened) prickly sida (Sida spinosaL.) seeds were extracted and bioassayed for both inhibitory and promotory growth regulators. Both dormant and nondormant prickly sida seeds contained water-soluble inhibitors, but these inhibitor levels in nondormant seeds did not change after 8 hr of incubation. A basic inhibitor was present in dormant seeds, but not in nondormant seeds. Exogenous growth regulators stimulated germination of dormant seeds only when a portion of the seed coat was removed. Promoter levels in nonincubated, dormant and nondormant seeds were similar, but there were increases in promoter levels in nondormant seeds after 8 hr of incubation. However, it was not determined whether the promoter increases were a cause or a result of germination.