Germinability and seedling vigor of some Aegilops accessions seeds at different level of aging

VJOLLCA IBRO¹*, ANXHELA KALOSHI¹, ENKELEDA COKA¹

¹Department of Plant Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Agricultural University of Tirana, AUT

*Corresponding author e-mail: vibro@ubt.edu.al

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Abstract

The genus Aegilops is very rich in accessions that can be used for the improvement of wheat breeding, especially in creating wheat lines or synthetic hexaploid wheat with high resistance to abiotic stresses and diseases. The reported viability of different Aegilops seeds is 2-6 years. This study provides insight into the morphological and physiological relationships among some germination and growth traits on 10 Aegilops accessions after various periods of seed storage 2, 3 and 4 years. Seed germination was characterized by a standard germination test, based on the 1 mm root protrusion and the development of normal seedlings. Germinability was determined by counting the number of germinated seeds in a container (after 24 h and 96 h), whereas the seedling growth ability was calculated as the mean length of the first leafs emerging from germinated seeds. The spikes weight, dry and imbibed seeds weight for each Aegilops accession have been evaluated. Beside these, the seeds imbibitions potential and seedlings height, dry weight, first leaf length and dry weight, specific leaf weight, have been evaluated, too. This study provides that after 4 years of seeds storage their germinability decreased for all Aegilops accessions taken in consideration. The germination rate was very low (30-70 % after 24 h of seeds exposure to humidity and less than 80% after 96 h). Significant differences were found for seedlings growth. Seeds aging retarded the time of seedlings emerge and reduced their height, fresh and dry weights, the first leaves mean length and their dry weight too.

Keywords: Aegilops seeds, seeds aging, seedling early growth, seedling vigor