Conditional Seed Dormancy Helps <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor. Overcome Stressful Mediterranean Summer Conditions
Investigations on seed biology and ecology are of major importance for the conservation of threatened plants, both providing baseline information and suggesting practical approaches. In our study, we focused on the germination behavior of <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor., a na...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/10/2130 |
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| author | Francesca Carruggio Andrea Onofri Stefania Catara Carmen Impelluso Maria Castrogiovanni Pietro Lo Cascio Antonia Cristaudo |
| author_facet | Francesca Carruggio Andrea Onofri Stefania Catara Carmen Impelluso Maria Castrogiovanni Pietro Lo Cascio Antonia Cristaudo |
| author_sort | Francesca Carruggio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Investigations on seed biology and ecology are of major importance for the conservation of threatened plants, both providing baseline information and suggesting practical approaches. In our study, we focused on the germination behavior of <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor., a narrow endemic species to Panarea and Alicudi (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy), as well as one of the 50 most threatened Mediterranean island plants. Specifically, the effects of temperature, light, seed age, seed source, and collection year were evaluated; in addition, threshold temperatures and thermal–time parameters were estimated. The thermal range for fresh seed germination resulted between 5 and 15 °C, reaching up to 20 and 25 °C at increasing seed age, with 30 °C being clearly beyond the ceiling temperature. This behavior indicates that fresh seeds exhibit the Type 1 non-deep physiological dormancy, and that germination is regulated by conditional dormancy. This dormancy syndrome emerged as a highly efficient adaptation strategy for this species and, together with thermo-inhibition, would allow seeds to counteract or take advantage of Mediterranean environmental conditions. The comparison between the wild Panarea population and the corresponding ex situ cultivated progeny has enabled the identification of the latter as a suitable seed source for sustainable in situ reinforcement actions, at least in the short-term; indeed, plant cultivation for a single generation did not produce significant modifications in the germination behavior of the offspring. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:15:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f7d78fa240824281b67052155df71dc7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:15:48Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-f7d78fa240824281b67052155df71dc72023-11-22T19:44:17ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472021-10-011010213010.3390/plants10102130Conditional Seed Dormancy Helps <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor. Overcome Stressful Mediterranean Summer ConditionsFrancesca Carruggio0Andrea Onofri1Stefania Catara2Carmen Impelluso3Maria Castrogiovanni4Pietro Lo Cascio5Antonia Cristaudo6Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Germplasm Bank (BGS-CT), University of Catania, 95128 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, 06121 Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Germplasm Bank (BGS-CT), University of Catania, 95128 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Germplasm Bank (BGS-CT), University of Catania, 95128 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Germplasm Bank (BGS-CT), University of Catania, 95128 Catania, ItalyAssociazione Nesos, 98055 Lipari (ME), ItalyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Germplasm Bank (BGS-CT), University of Catania, 95128 Catania, ItalyInvestigations on seed biology and ecology are of major importance for the conservation of threatened plants, both providing baseline information and suggesting practical approaches. In our study, we focused on the germination behavior of <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor., a narrow endemic species to Panarea and Alicudi (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy), as well as one of the 50 most threatened Mediterranean island plants. Specifically, the effects of temperature, light, seed age, seed source, and collection year were evaluated; in addition, threshold temperatures and thermal–time parameters were estimated. The thermal range for fresh seed germination resulted between 5 and 15 °C, reaching up to 20 and 25 °C at increasing seed age, with 30 °C being clearly beyond the ceiling temperature. This behavior indicates that fresh seeds exhibit the Type 1 non-deep physiological dormancy, and that germination is regulated by conditional dormancy. This dormancy syndrome emerged as a highly efficient adaptation strategy for this species and, together with thermo-inhibition, would allow seeds to counteract or take advantage of Mediterranean environmental conditions. The comparison between the wild Panarea population and the corresponding ex situ cultivated progeny has enabled the identification of the latter as a suitable seed source for sustainable in situ reinforcement actions, at least in the short-term; indeed, plant cultivation for a single generation did not produce significant modifications in the germination behavior of the offspring.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/10/2130ex situ collectionMediterranean germination syndromeseed ageplant conservationthermo-inhibitionthreatened plants |
| spellingShingle | Francesca Carruggio Andrea Onofri Stefania Catara Carmen Impelluso Maria Castrogiovanni Pietro Lo Cascio Antonia Cristaudo Conditional Seed Dormancy Helps <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor. Overcome Stressful Mediterranean Summer Conditions Plants ex situ collection Mediterranean germination syndrome seed age plant conservation thermo-inhibition threatened plants |
| title | Conditional Seed Dormancy Helps <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor. Overcome Stressful Mediterranean Summer Conditions |
| title_full | Conditional Seed Dormancy Helps <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor. Overcome Stressful Mediterranean Summer Conditions |
| title_fullStr | Conditional Seed Dormancy Helps <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor. Overcome Stressful Mediterranean Summer Conditions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conditional Seed Dormancy Helps <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor. Overcome Stressful Mediterranean Summer Conditions |
| title_short | Conditional Seed Dormancy Helps <i>Silene hicesiae</i> Brullo & Signor. Overcome Stressful Mediterranean Summer Conditions |
| title_sort | conditional seed dormancy helps i silene hicesiae i brullo signor overcome stressful mediterranean summer conditions |
| topic | ex situ collection Mediterranean germination syndrome seed age plant conservation thermo-inhibition threatened plants |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/10/2130 |
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