Abstract
More than 30 years ago, the Nordic Gene Bank established a long-term experiment on seeds stored under permafrost conditions in an abandoned mine corridor in Svalbard, as a tool to monitor storage life under these conditions. The study included seeds from 16 Nordic agricultural and horticultural crops, each represented by two or three cultivars (altogether 38 accessions). All seeds were ultra-dried to 3–5% moisture before being sealed in glass tubes. Germination tests were performed in accordance with the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) protocols. At the initiation of the experiment, the samples showed good germination with the median value at 92%. The overall picture remained stable over the first twenty to twenty-five years. However, the variation became larger over time and at 30 years, the median value had dropped to 80%. At the lower end, with a high drop in germination, we found rye, wheat, and English ryegrass. At the upper end, we found Kentucky bluegrass and cucumber. The lowest germination was found in samples with the highest initial seed moisture levels. Pre-storage conditions are likely to be of major importance for longevity.
Highlights
Most food plants produce seeds that can be stored under low temperature and moisture conditions.Much of our knowledge on seed longevity is based on artificial ageing experiments, where seeds are exposed to suboptimal conditions of elevated temperature and moisture for some weeks, and storage life is predicted based on the seed moisture content, storage temperature, and seed lot characters [1,2].Such calculations have predicted that high-quality seeds could survive ideal conditions for hundreds of years or more [3,4], which was good news for many gene banks, but might be unrealistic as such studies have rarely been confirmed in long-term storage studies
The box-range was from 83% to 95%, and the median was at 92% germination
The overall picture was relatively stable over the first twenty to twenty-five years, but the variation increased over time as some seed lots showed a reduced germination
Summary
Most food plants produce seeds that can be stored under low temperature and moisture conditions. Much of our knowledge on seed longevity is based on artificial ageing experiments, where seeds are exposed to suboptimal conditions of elevated temperature and moisture for some weeks, and storage life is predicted based on the seed moisture content, storage temperature, and seed lot characters [1,2] Such calculations have predicted that high-quality seeds could survive ideal conditions for hundreds of years or more [3,4], which was good news for many gene banks, but might be unrealistic as such studies have rarely been confirmed in long-term storage studies. More than twenty years before this, the Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) started a small seed storage facility in an abandoned coalmine corridor in Svalbard. The investigation is still ongoing, and in this paper, we summarize the results after the first 30 years
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