Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T13:11:14.468Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Phytochrome Controlled Changes in Dormancy and Germination of Buried Weed Seeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

R. B. Taylorson
R. B. Taylorson*
Affiliation:
Plant Sci. Res. Div., Agr. Res. Serv., U. S. Dep. of Agr., Beltsville, Maryland. 20705
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Seeds of six weed species were buried in the field at depths of 2.5, 7.6, and 15.2 cm. Seed germination after various light and temperature treatments was determined before burial and after recoveries in darkness at 3-month intervals over 12 and 20-month periods. In one experiment the five species studied were ungerminable before burial. After 6 months burial, most species responded to light but became ungerminable again after this time. These results suggest cycles of dormancy where seeds pass from total dormancy at maturation to a phytochrome-controlled dormancy after burial and then return to total dormancy. During the phytochrome-controlled dormancy period, some species were highly light sensitive. In another experiment the response of yellow rocket (Barbarea vulgaris R. Br.) seeds to thirteen light and temperature treatments was determined before and after burial. Without light treatment, germination of the recovered seeds at various temperatures was low. Germination was usually high after brief exposures to red light, particularly in seeds recovered from 15.2 cm. Very large increases in germination were induced by light exposures of 3 × 10−9 Einsteins cm−2 incident in the 600 to 680-nm region (1 sec). The evidence suggests changes in total phytochrome (Ptot) are responsible for a seasonal change in light sensitivity and a previously undescribed type of dormancy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Science , Volume 20 , Issue 5 , September 1972 , pp. 417 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Black, M. 1969. Light-controlled germination of seeds. Symp. Soc. Exp. Biol. 23:193–217.Google ScholarPubMed
2. Brenchley, W. E. and Warington, K. 1933. The weed seed population of arable soil. II. Influence of crop, soil, and methods of cultivation upon the relative abundance of viable seeds. J. Ecol. 21:103–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Borthwick, H. A., Hendricks, S. B., Schneider, M. J., Taylorson, R. B., and Toole, V. K. 1969. The high-energy light action controlling plant responses and development. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 64:479–486.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Butler, W. L., Hendricks, S. B., and Siegelman, H. W. 1964. Action spectra of phytochrome in vitro . Photochem. Photobiol. 3:521–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Chepil, W. S. 1946. Germination of weed seeds. I. Longevity, periodicity of germination and vitality of seeds in cultivated soil. Sci. Agr. 26:307–346.Google Scholar
6. Darlington, H. T. and Steinbauer, G. P. 1961. The eighty-year period for Dr. Beals' seed viability experiment. Amer. J. Bot. 48:321–325.Google Scholar
7. Feltner, K. C. and Vesecky, J. F. 1968. Light quality and temperature effects on weed seed germination in two Kansas soils. Kansas Acad. Sci. 71:7–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Hillman, W. S. 1967. The physiology of phytochrome. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 19:301–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Mohr, H. 1969. Photomorphogenesis, p. 509–556. In Wilkins, M. B. (ed.), The physiology of plant growth and development. McGraw Hill, New York.Google Scholar
10. Roberts, H. A. 1962. Studies on the weeds of vegetable crops. II. Effects of six years of cropping on the weed seeds in the soil. J. Ecol. 50:803–813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Roberts, H. A. 1970. Viable weed seeds in cultivated soils. Rep. Nat. Veg. Res. Stn. for 1969, Wellesbourne, U.K. 25–38.Google Scholar
12. Sauer, J. and Struik, G. 1964. A possible ecological relation between soil disturbance, light-flash, and seed germination. Ecology 45:884–886.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13. Scheibe, J. and Lang, A. 1965. Lettuce seed germination: Evidence for a reversible light-induced increase in growth potential and for phytochrome mediation of the low temperature effect. Plant Physiol. 47:619–622.Google Scholar
14. Taylorson, R. B. 1970. Changes in dormancy and viability of weed seeds in soils. Weed Sci. 18:265–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Taylorson, R. B. and Hendricks, S. B. 1969. Action of phytochrome during prechilling of Amaranthus retroflexus L. seeds. Plant Physiol. 47:821–825.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Taylorson, R. B. and Hendricks, S. B. 1971. Changes in phytochrome expressed by germination of Amaranthus retroflexus L. seeds. Plant Physiol. 47:619–622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17 Toole, E. H. 1946. Final results of Duvel buried seed experiments. J. Agr. Res. 79:201–210.Google Scholar
18. Wesson, G. and Wareing, P. F. 1969. The role of light in the germination of naturally occurring populations of buried weed seeds. J. Exp. Bot. 20:402–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Wesson, G. and Wareing, P. F. 1969. The induction of light sensitivity in weed seeds by burial. J. Exp. Bot. 20:414–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20. Withrow, R. B. and Price, L. 1953. Filters for the isolation of narrow regions in the visible and near-visible spectrum. Plant Physiol. 28:105–114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed