Effect of Natural Seed Aging on Root and Shoot Traits in Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Cultivars

Abstract

This study targeted to elucidate the effect of seed aging on germination and emergence rates with and shoot characteristics in wheat cultivars. For this purpose, different bread wheat cultivars stored for 7 years and non-stored were compared for coleoptile length, root mass, shoot mass, root length as well as germination and seedling emergence rates. Here, the evidence suggested that seed storage over a prolonged period affected root and Shoot growth, coleoptile length, seed germination, and seedling emergence rates adversely. By linking germination and emergence rates, the data presented here indicated that a reduction in emergence rate in long-term storage was higher than that in the germination rate. It was also found that there were significant variations among the wheat cultivars about investigated traits during long-term storage. However, the emergence rates of Kate A1 and Flamura 85 were not affected substantially by long-term storage. The study suggested future studies to focus on clarification of the process controlling natural seed aging as such knowledge allows clue the eventual consequences of long-term storage.