Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T11:00:52.705Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Richards function and quantitative analysis of germination and dormancy in meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2007

Canhong Cheng*
Affiliation:
Horticultural Research, Te Puke Research Centre, 412 No. 1 Road, RD2, Te Puke, New Zealand
Ian L. Gordon
Affiliation:
Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
*
*Correspondence Fax: +64 7 573 3871 Email: [email protected]

Abstract

While investigating germinability in the new-crop meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba Benth.), it was desired to gain maximum information despite minimal seed material and prior knowledge. Extended use of the Richards function in a factorial germination experiment proved very powerful. The functions yielded estimates of four correlated coefficients, requiring multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to provide valid F-tests among germination profiles. These germination functions provided more rigorous discrimination among treatments than the univariate final germination level. The functions for the imbibants KNO3 and GA4+7, in darkness at 10/5°C, were best, being characterized by high mean absolute germination rate, relatively short duration, and high final germination (upper asymptote). The results provided insights into possible dormancy mechanisms.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000

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

Bewley, J.D. and Black, M. (1994) Seeds. Physiology of development and germination. New York, Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Causton, D.R. and Venus, J.C. (1981) The biometry of plant growth. London, Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Chang, S.P. and Rothfus, J.A. (1977) Enrichment of eicosenoic and docosadienoic acids from Limnanthes oil. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 54, 549552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, D.F. (1974) Effect of light and temperature on germination of two accessions of Limnanthes alba seed. Economic Botany 28, 155159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooley, W.W. and Lohnes, P.R. (1971) Multivariate data analysis. New York, John Wiley.Google Scholar
Crump, S.L. (1946) The estimation of variance components in analysis of variance. Biometrics 2, 711.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennett, M.D., Auld, B.A. and Elston, J. (1978) A description of leaf growth in Vicia faba L. Annals of Botany 42, 223232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennett, M.D., Elston, J. and Milford, J.R. (1979) The effect of temperature on the growth of individual leaves of Vicia faba L. in the field. Annals of Botany 43, 197208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higgins, J.J., Calhoun, W., Willingham, B.C., Dinkel, D.H., Raisler, W.L. and White, G.A. (1971) Agronomic evaluation of prospective new crop species. II. The American Limnanthes. Economic Botany 25, 4454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, R. (1979) Plant growth analysis. The rationale behind the use of the fitted mathematical function. Annals of Botany 43, 245249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ISTA (1999) International rules for seed testing 1999. Seed Science and Technology 27 (Supplement), 155199.Google Scholar
Jolliff, G.D., Seddigh, M. and Franz, R.E. (1994) Seed germination and dormancy of new meadowfoam (Limnanthes spp.) genotypes. Industrial Crops and Products 2, 179187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehle, F.R. and Putnam, A.R. (1982) Quantification of allelopathic potential of sorghum residues by novel indexing of Richards' function fitted to cumulative cress seed germination curves. Plant Physiology 69, 12121216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mmolawa, O.B. (1987) Germination and dormancy of meadowfoam seed. MS thesis, Oregon State University (cited by Jolliff et al. , 1994).Google Scholar
Morrison, D.F. (1990) Multivariate statistical methods (3rd edition). New York, McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Nichols, M.A. and Heydecker, W. (1968) Two approaches to the study of germination data. Proceedings of the International Seed Testing Association 33, 531540.Google Scholar
Nyunt, S. and Grabe, D.F. (1987) Induction of secondary dormancy in seeds of meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba Benth.). Journal of Seed Technology 11, 103110.Google Scholar
Perry, D.A. (1987) Topographical tetrazolium test. pp. 5765in Fiala, F. (Ed.) ISTA handbook of vigour test methods. Switzerland, The International Seed Testing Association.Google Scholar
Richards, F.J. (1959) A flexible growth function for empirical use. Journal of Experimental Botany 10, 290300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS Institute Inc. (1990) SAS/STAT user's guide, version 6 (4th edition), Vol. 2.Google Scholar
Satterthwaite, F.E. (1946) An approximate distribution of estimates of variance components. Biometrics Bulletin 2, 110114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schimpf, D.J., Flint, S.D. and Palmblad, I.G. (1977) Representation of germination curves with the logistic function. Annals of Botany 41, 13571360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steel, R.G.D. and Torrie, J.H. (1981) Principles and procedures of statistics: a biometrical approach (2nd edition). New York, McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Toy, S.J. and Willingham, B.C. (1966) Effect of temperature on seed germination of ten species and varieties of Limnanthes. Economic Botany 20, 7175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Venus, J.C. and Causton, D.R. (1979) Plant growth analysis: the use of the Richards function as an alternative to polynomial exponentials. Annals of Botany 43, 623632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar