SEED DORMANCY
Course Title “Seed Physiology”
by
Dr. Muhammad Azeem
Assistant Professor
Department of Botany
University of Karachi
What is a seed?
matured ovule
What is a fruit?
matured ovary
What is the purpose of seeds?
variability of offspring
dispersal of offspring away from parent
survival of plant through difficult conditions
How is growing from seed different?
variability of seed-propagated plants
Advantages?
easy
little equipment
lots of plants!
Disadvantages?
variability!
viability
Cotoneaster microphyllus germination?
Seed production is the goal!
Annual Perennial
Shrub Tree
Seed Dormancy
Dormancy is a condition where seeds will not
germinate even when the environmental conditions
such as water, temperature and air are favourable for
germination
It is observed that seeds of some fruit plants (mango,
citrus) germinate immediately after extraction from the
fruit under favourable conditions of moisture,
temperature and aeration.
However, in others (apple, pear, cherry) germination does
not take place even under favourable conditions.
This phenomenon is called as „dormancy‟.
This is an important survival mechanism for some species
because these species do not germinate unless adverse
climatic conditions end
Types of Dormancy in Seed
Quiescent – The seeds are able to germinate upon
imbibition of water at permissive temperatures.
Primary Dormancy – Seeds cannot germinate
even if immediate conditions are right. This form of
dormancy delays germination until season, or other
macro-environmental issues are right for survival.
Secondary Dormancy – An additional level of
Protection to prevent germination. Can be induced under
very unfavorable conditions such as drought or cold, etc.
Types of dormancy
Different types of dormancy include
1. Exogenous Dormancy
This type of dormancy is imposed by factors outside the embryo.
the tissues enclosing the embryo can affect germination by inhibiting
water uptake
Providing mechanical resistance to embryo expansion and radicle
emergence
modifying gaseous exchange (limit oxygen to embryo)
Preventing leaching of inhibitor from the embryo and
Supplying inhibitor to the embryo
Exogenous dormancy
Exogenous dormancy is of three types
Physical dormancy (seed coat dormancy)
Mechanical dormancy
Chemical dormancy
a) Physical dormancy (Seed coat dormancy)
Seed coat or seed covering may become hard, fibrous or mucilaginous (adhesives gum) during
dehydration and ripening.
As a result they become impermeable to water and gases, which prevents the physiological
processes initiating germination
This type of dormancy is very common in drupe fruits i.e. olive, peach, plum, apricot, cherry
etc. (hardened endocarp), walnut and pecan nut (surrounding shell).
In various plant families, such as, Leguminosae, the outer seed coat gets hardened and
becomes suberized and impervious to water.
b) Mechanical dormancy
In some fruits seed covering restricts radicle growth, resulting in
dormancy of seeds.
Some seed covering structures, such as shells of walnut, pits of
stone fruits and stones of olive are too strong to allow the
dormant embryo to expand during germination.
The water may be absorbed but the difficulty arises in the
cementing material as in walnut.
Germination in such seeds does not occur until and unless the
seed coats are softened either by creating moist and warm
conditions during storage or by microbial activity.
c) Chemical dormancy
In seeds of some fruits chemicals that
accumulate in fruit and seed covering
tissues during development and remain
with the seed after harvest.
It is quite common in fleshy fruits or
fruits whose seeds remain in juice as in
citrus, cucurbits, stone fruits, pear,
grapes and tomatoes. Some of the
substances associated with inhibition are
various phenols, coumarin and abscisic
acid.
These substances can strongly inhibit
seed germination.
2. Endogenous dormancy
This type of dormancy is imposed by rudimentary or
undeveloped embryo at the time of ripening or maturity.
This can be of different types such as
Morphological
Physiological
Double dormancy
Secondary dormancy.
Morphological dormancy
(Rudimentary and linear embryo)
When embryo is not fully developed at the time of seed dissemination.
Such seeds do not germinate, if planted immediately after harvesting.
Plants with rudimentary embryos produce seeds with little more than a pro-embryo embedded in
a massive endosperm at the time of fruit maturation.
Enlargement of the embryo occurs after the seeds have imbibed water but, before germination
begins.
Formation of rudimentary embryo is common in various plant families such as Ranunculaceae
(Ranunculus), Papavaraceae (poppy). Some plants of temperate zone like holly and snowberry have
also rudimentary embryos.
Physiological dormancy
Non-deep physiological dormancy:
Dry storage is required to lose dormancy
eg. apple, pear, cherry, peach, plum and apricot, cultivated
cereals, vegetables and flower crops,
Photo dormancy
It is due to photo-chemically reactive pigment called
phytochrome widely present in some plants
Thermo dormancy
temperature requirement for their germination, eg. seeds of
lettuce, celery and pansy do not germinate if the
temperature is below 25oC.
Double dormancy
In some species, seeds have dormancy due to hard seed coats and dormant
embryos.
For instance, some tree legumes seed coats are impervious and at the
same time their embryo are also dormant.
Combination of two or more types of dormancy is known as „double
dormancy‟.
Secondary dormancy
Secondary dormancy is due to germination conditions.
It is a further adaptation to prevent germination of an imbibed seed if other environmental
conditions are not favorable.
These conditions can include unfavorably high or low temperature, prolonged darkness and water
stress.
It is of two types:
I) Thermo dormancy: High temperature induced dormancy.
II) Conditional dormancy: Change in ability to germinate related to time of the
Advantages of Seed Dormancy
• Favors seedling survival
• Creates a seed bank
• Seed dispersal (birds)
• Synchronizes
germination with seasons
Seed Cleaning / Separation
Cleaning seed reduces
disease and weed seed
from growing along with
your selection
For many dry seed, simply
crush dried material and
blow gently, transferring
the seed from hand to hand.
Cleaning seeds
Fruit may inhibit the germination process
Sugar content of fruit
Inhibits H2O uptake
Chemical inhibition
Quince
Fleshy Berry Seed
Viability and storage
Seeds with thin coats lose viability quickly
Nut-like seeds lose viability quickly, too
Horsechestnut, chestnut, oak, walnut
Temperature:
Best is 30-40oF
Humidity:
should be low
store in sealed containers for long term
Preconditioning Seeds
(for more uniform germination)
Methods:
Mechanical scarification
Soaking In Water
Acid Scarification
Moist Chilling / Freezing
Double Dormancy
Preconditioning Seeds
(for more uniform germination)
Methods:
Mechanical scarification
Soaking In Water
Acid Scarification
Moist Chilling / Freezing
Double Dormancy
Mechanical Scarification
Scarification
Artificially breaking down the seed coat
Mechanical
Hot water
Put in ~200oF H20
Allow to soak overnight
Sow soon, keep moist
Mechanical scarification
Moist Stratification
Cold or Warm
Stratification
Usually 60-90 days
Best at 35-40oF, moist
Protect from critters!
Seed Soaking / Leaching
Seed soaking optimizes the amount of imbibed
seeds and evens out the stage of imbibition by
insuring 100% moisture availability
Soaking too long
can cause anoxia
and reduced
germination. 12-36
hours is a very
common soaking
period.
Electric Heating Tapes
Resources
Practical woody plant propagation for nursery growers,
B. MacDonald, Timber Press, 1986.
Garden Flowers from seed,
C. Lloyd and G. Rice, Timber Press, 1991.
American Hort Society Plant propagation,
A. Toogood, D.K. Press, 1999.
The reference manual of woody plant propagation
M. Dirr and C. Heuser, Timber Press, 2009
