Seed Germination and Early Seedling Growth of Barley at Negative Water Potentials

Tim L Springer,Dolores W Mornhinweg

doi:10.3390/agronomy9110671

Abstract

The impacts of climate change may increase the duration and frequency of droughts, which would have deleterious effects on crop establishment. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of moisture stress on seed germination and seedling growth of six winter barley (Hordeum vulgare) lines and discuss how the data are used to select plant materials for rapid germination. Twenty-five seeds of each line were germinated in water of potentials of −2.0, −1.6, −1.2, −0.8, −0.4, and 0 MPa for 4- and 7-days. The experimental design was a factorial arrangement of treatments (barley lines and water potential treatments) in a randomized block replicated four times and repeated twice. The 4- and 7-day percentage seed germination varied with line (p < 0.01), water potential treatment (p < 0.01), and line × treatment interactions (p < 0.01). The seed germination rate varied with water potential treatment (p < 0.01), and line × treatment interactions (p < 0.01). The data indicated that enough variation was present to effectively select and breed cultivars for improved germination at a negative water potential. Studying seed germination under moisture stress is the first step for developing an effected selection pressure for identifying plant materials with rapid seed germination.

Highlights

Droughts commonly occur on the landscape and are among the costliest natural hazards in the USA with an estimated annual loss of $9 billion from the loss of crops, water supplies, recreation and tourism, ecosystem services, and human health [1,2]
Al-Karaki [25] were found the rate of water uptake by(p barley seed and the percentage seed germination decreased as water potential decreased from to
We found that percentage 4- and 7-day seed germination of barley decreased with a decreasing

Summary

Introduction

Droughts commonly occur on the landscape and are among the costliest natural hazards in the USA with an estimated annual loss of $9 billion from the loss of crops, water supplies, recreation and tourism, ecosystem services, and human health [1,2]. Future climate projections predict an increase in winter and spring precipitation over much of North America and a decrease in summer precipitation over central and southern North America. Surface temperatures are projected to increase, especially in the winter, at high latitudes, and in the summer throughout southwestern North America. The increase in surface temperature and associated evapotranspiration is expected to have a major impact on the frequency and duration of drought [3]. Rainfall occasionally occurs during drought periods, it is effectively impossible for seeds to germinate, become established, and survive [5]. Genetic variation can be used to develop plant materials with superior seed germination and establishment characteristics. R.H.; Pfeifer, R.P. Differential varietal response of winter wheat germination and early growth to controlled limited moisture conditions.

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