Semillas de rabanitos (raphanus sativus l): observaciones de su morfología bajo microscopía electrónica, germinación y utilidad para estudios de fitotoxicidad

Abstract

Radish seeds (Raphanus sativus L): Morphology description and germination. Raphanus sativus is an important plant in the seed industry worldwide especially in Asia. Current knowledge of its genome makes them a good organism model for scientific approaches. R. sativus. is a dicot plant that is grown throughout the world. The radish belongs to the same family of Arabidopsis thaliana: Brassicaceae. Many aspects of their biology are known and the species is used in studies of toxicity and accumulation of chemical substances in their stems, leaves and flowers. The purpose of this work was to analyze the morphology and germination of seeds of R. sativus. We observed that the seed coat color varies between the light browns, the shape is irregular ovoid and measure about three (3) mm in diameter. Here we describe the morphology under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the histology of the seeds. In addition, the germination and the viability observed is briefly described. The seeds of radishes are suitable for the evaluation of the toxic effects of certain chemical compounds especially on the germination process since the elongation of the roots has shown great heterogeneity. Key words: Raphanus sativus, germination, morphology, seeds, SEM.