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Dormancy cycles in Aquilegia oxysepala Trautv. et Mey. (Ranunculaceae), a species with non-deep simple morphophysiological dormancy

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Abstract

Aims

Seed dormancy and the formation of a soil seed bank is important plant regeneration strategies, especially if the environment is unpredictable. The present research explores how environmental factors control seed dormancy release, and how seed dormancy is related to the soil seed bank and regeneration of the perennial Aquilegia oxysepala.

Methods

The effects of incubation temperature, light, cold and warm stratification, gibberellic acid (GA3) along with the germination phenology of A. oxysepala in the field were used to determine the type of seed dormancy. Seasonal change of seed dormancy was determined by regularly exhuming buried seeds and incubating them in laboratory conditions.

Results

A. oxysepala seeds has underdeveloped (small) embryos along with physiological dormancy at dispersal. With the increased amounts of cold stratification, the germination of A. oxysepala increased gradually. GA3 served as a substitute for cold stratification. Breaking of physiological dormancy under natural temperatures in the field occurred in winter, while growth of embryos and germination of seeds occurred in early spring. Viable seeds that had not germinated in early spring were induced into secondary dormancy by high soil temperatures.

Conclusions

A. oxysepala provides one of a few examples of dormancy cycling in seeds with morphophysiological dormancy. Freshly matured seeds of A. oxysepala seeds have non-deep simple morphophysiological dormancy. The annual dormancy–non-dormancy cycle maintains the coordination between timing of seedling emergence with favorable seasons, thus increasing the survival chances of seedlings in environments with seasonal changes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31800340), the Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crop Genetic Improvement of China (Grant No. 2017023), the Jiangsu Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Foundation of China [Grant No. CX(19)3124], and the Jiangsu Forestry Science and Technology Innovation and Promotion Project of China (Grant No. LYKJ[2018]41).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Keliang Zhang, Yusong Ji, Guixian Fu, Linjun Yao, Huina Liu & Jun Tao

  2. Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety, the Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Keliang Zhang, Yusong Ji, Guixian Fu, Linjun Yao, Huina Liu & Jun Tao

  3. Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132, USA

    Jeffrey L. Walck

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  1. Keliang Zhang
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  2. Yusong Ji
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  3. Guixian Fu
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  4. Linjun Yao
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  5. Huina Liu
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  7. Jeffrey L. Walck
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Correspondence to Jun Tao or Jeffrey L. Walck.

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Fig. 7

Longitudinal sections of Aquilegia oxysepala seeds buried in soil at a depth of 2 cm in 2018–2019. Fresh seeds having rudimentary embryos (a), and growing embryos when seeds exhumed on 24 January 2019 (b), 12 February 2019 (c), and 21 February 2019 (d). Em, embryo; En, endosperm; SC, seed coat

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Zhang, K., Ji, Y., Fu, G. et al. Dormancy cycles in Aquilegia oxysepala Trautv. et Mey. (Ranunculaceae), a species with non-deep simple morphophysiological dormancy. Plant Soil 464, 223–235 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04951-8

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