Enhanced germination performance of dormant seeds of Eragrostis tef in the presence of light

Abstract

Lack of germination or low germination due to seed dormancy prevents successful crop establishment in several important plants. To determine the presence of innate seed dormancy and effects of stress-related plant hormones on germination performance of Teff (Eragrostis tef) seeds, we primed seeds in 1% KNO3 for 24 hours in dark conditions at 21 ± 0.5 °C along with varying concentrations of chemicals known to influence seed germination, including: acetyl salicylic acid (ASA); methyl jasmonate (JA-Me); giberellic acid (GA3); and indole acetic acid (IAA). Primed seeds were incubated either in constant light (210 μM/m2/s) or in darkness at 21 ± 0.5 °C. The results indicated that priming significantly improved final germination percentage (FGP) in both light (92.5%) and dark (89.4%) conditions compared with untreated seeds. The inclusion of plant hormones in the priming media generally had limited effects, except for 10 μM ASA (94.5%) and 100 μM GA3 (92.5%). ASA generally provided faster seed germination than seeds primed in 1% KNO3 only, while the other plant hormones had no effect on the time required for 50% of FGP in the dark. Priming had no significant effect on time span of germination in either light or dark incubation conditions. The results demonstrate that E. tef has light-inducible seed germination and about half of freshly harvested seeds can be dormant, which can be eliminated to some extent by priming seeds in 1% KNO3.