Abstract

MAYO-MOSQUEDA, Alberto; ESPINOSA-MORENO, Judith; CENTURION-HIDALGO, Dora  and  CAZARES-CAMERO, Jaime Gabriel. Strategies for seed germination improvement of Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana (Linden & H. Wendland). Polibotánica [online]. 2017, n.43, pp.246-254. ISSN 1405-2768.  https://doi.org/10.18387/polibotanica.43.11.

Because of the phytogenetic resources extraction and conservation interest, germination induction tests were carried out in the Calyptrogyneg ghiesbreghtiana (Linden & H. Wendland) species, known as guanito de taliz, a threatened species of the Arecaceae family. Greenhouse germination tests were performed using four treatments: immersion in 0.3% H2O2 solution, 0.02% KNO3, 1% GA3 and distilled water soaking, all of them applied for a 24 h period on seeds without epycarpium; a control treatment on seeds with epycarpium was included. Another alternative used was the in vitro germination induction, using whole seeds and isolated embryos; to do so, each flask with three embryo or seeds in MS medium with sucrose added to 3% without growth regula-tors and solidified with Phytagel (2 gL-1). This was considered as an experimental unit. By evaluating the effect of chemical substances in C. ghiesbreghtiana seed germination, It was found that immersion in 0.3% H2O2 solution resulted in the highest greenhouse germination percentage (84.59%), statistically different from the rest of the methods used and the control treatment. With regard to the rescue and culture of zygotic embryos under in vitro conditions, the best answer was observed with the complete isolated of embryos. In both strategies, it was really important to carry out the experiments with fresh seeds with no more than two weeks from collection, due to the loss of cell viability. The use of H2O2, under greenhouse conditions, implies an economical optionfor nurserymen and it can contribute to the production of plants for reforestation, as well as the use of embryo rescue technique to support conservation and wise use of the species.

Keywords : germination; zygotic embryos.