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Understanding the mechanisms of germination and seedling growth of six wild bean species (Vigna, Fabaceae)

par Fopah Malla, Gisèle
Promoteur Meerts, Pierre Jacques
Co-Promoteur Vandelook, Filip
Publication Non publié, 2024-08-29

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Résumé :

Understanding the mechanisms of seed dormancy and germination is pivotal for thesuccessful establishment and growth of many plant species. To ensure successfulgermination and seedling establishment, it is important to understand how seeds react todifferent germination pre-treatment and temperature conditions. The aim of this study is toinvestigate the germination and seedling traits of 18 accessions belonging to 6 wild Vignaspecies. Seeds were subjected to germination treatments of mechanical scarification, heatshock 70°C (5min and 20min), and inoculation with two Rhizobium strains (strain V andstrain P) followed by controlled germination tests at various temperatures (20°C, 25°C,30/20°C, 32.5°C, and 30/20°C wet and dry cycles) and subsequent seedling growthassessments in a greenhouse. Germination and temperature treatments differ considerablybetween species. Scarification was the most effective treatment for overcoming seed coatimpermeability, resulting in higher germination rates across all accessions while heat shocktreatments and different temperatures produced varied responses, with some accessionslike NI1562 showing enhanced germination at low temperatures of 20°C. Highertemperatures of 32.5°C reduced germination for most accessions except for NI1051.Seedling traits responses notably shoot height, leaf number, and biomass, subjected toscarification and Rhizobium inoculum differ considerably between accessions. The scarifiedseed generally had greater impact on leaf number and shoot height. Seeds treated withstrain P, resulted in higher biomass compared to the scarified and to those treated withstrain V. Nodulated plants generally exhibited higher biomass in strain V and controltreatments, whereas strain P treatment resulted in greater biomass for non-nodulatedplants. These findings suggest that scarification and appropriate microbial inoculation cansignificantly enhance germination and seedling growth in wild Vigna species, offeringvaluable insights for crop improvement and sustainable agricultural practices.