"Improving seed germination of Salicornia rubra (Chenopodiaceae)" by M. Ajmal Khan, Bilquees Gul et al.
Salicornia rubra Nels. (Chenopodiaceae) is a salt-tolerant annual species occurring in salt playas of the Great Basin desert in western United States. It forms pioneer communities on the most saline location of an inland salt playa at Goshen, Utah. Seeds of Salicornia rubra are capable of germinating at 1000 mM NaCl at 25–35 °C alternating temperature regime. Dormancy-regulating chemicals were evaluated for their ability to alleviate the innate and salinityenforced dormancy in seeds of Salicornia rubra. Betaine, GA3, kinetin, fusicoccin, ethephon, thiourea, proline, and nitrate had no effect in alleviating primary dormancy. Increases in NaCl concentration progressively inhibited germination of Salicornia rubra seeds. Ethephon, fusicoccin, GA3, kinetin, thiourea, and nitrate promoted germination under low saline conditions. At high salinity fusicoccin had no effect, whereas GA3, kinetin, and ethephon substantially alleviated salinity effects. Application of these dormancy-regulating compounds could be of practical value in seeding a saline area for restoration purposes, particularly under high saline conditions.
Khan, M. Ajmal; Gul, Bilquees; and Weber, Darrell J. (2002) "Improving seed germination of Salicornia rubra (Chenopodiaceae) under saline conditions using germination-regulating chemicals," Western North American Naturalist: Vol. 62 : No. 1 , Article 11.