113-9 Investigating Thermotolerance In Seeds of New Oilseed Crop Physaria and Relatives.



Monday, October 17, 2011
Henry Gonzalez Convention Center, Hall C, Street Level

Jenna Marie Schnibbe, College of Agricultural Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, Von Mark V. Cruz, USDA, ARS, National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, Fort Collins, CO and David A. Dierig, USDA-ARS National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, Fort Collins, CO
Tolerance to high temperature is a valuable trait in crop improvement as well as resilience to other abiotic stresses. High temperatures can be detrimental to germinating seedlings but on the other hand it can also be a dormancy-breaking treatment for nongerminated seeds. We tested the effect of varying high temperature treatments (60oC, 80oC and 103oC) on the seed germination of Physaria fendleri (syn. Lesquerella fendleri) and its relatives P. gordonii, P. argyraea, and Paysonia grandiflora. We also determined the length of time (0.5, 1, 4, 12, 24, 72hr) required before seeds succumb and die after exposure to such temperatures. We observed significant differences in the germination percentages among species and temperature regimes.  Seeds of P. grandiflora were observed to retain viability (3.03%) after 4hr at 103oC, while seeds of the other species still retained high viabilities (66.67-89.26%) after exposure to 60oC and 80oC up to 72hr.  These results demonstrated the tolerance to extreme temperatures in these taxa which may be useful for understanding their resilience in wild habitats, and as well as provide information to plant breeders for further investigation on this trait for future crop improvement activities in lesquerella.
See more from this Division: C08 Plant Genetic Resources
See more from this Session: Germplasm Conservation and Utilization