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Improvement of seed germination in winter strawberry (Rubus buergeri Miq.)

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Abstract

Seeds of winter strawberry (Rubus buergeri Miq.) germinate at a low rate over an extended period due to their hard coat and deep dormancy. This study compared the effects of different physicochemical treatments on the germination rate and duration of the germination period of winter strawberry seeds. Seeds were treated by sandpaper scarification, sulfuric acid (H2SO4) scarification, and gibberellic acid (GA3). Of these physicochemical treatments, sandpaper scarification produced the greatest improvement to the germination rate and shortening of the germination period. Treatment with GA3 also produced positive effects, albeit to a lesser level. By contrast, sulfuric acid scarification decreased the germination rate relative to the control group. Although GA3 treatment had positive effects on true leaf formation and subsequent growth of seedlings, sandpaper scarification was the most effective method of inducing true leaf formation within a short period and, subsequently, for ensuring normal growth. Sandpaper scarification of seed resulted in > 90% germination, representing an approximately 80% improvement compared with the control group by week 6. Moreover, true leaves emerged in ~ 70% of seedlings within 6 weeks. Sandpaper scarification was thus a very effective seed treatment, not only for improving the germination rate and shortening the germination period of winter strawberry seeds but also for producing healthy seedlings.

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Acknowledgements

We are deeply grateful to Hwa Ja Kim for her great help in the cultivation of winter strawberry seeds in this study.

Funding

This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Education (2016R1D1A1B02012307 and 2016R1A6A1A03012862).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Subtropical/Tropical Organism Gene Bank, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243, Republic of Korea

    Jiwon Kim, Jae-Hoon Kim, Chang Sook Kim & Kyung-Hwan Boo

  2. Department of Biotechnology, College of Applied Life Science (SARI), Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243, Republic of Korea

    Jae-Hoon Kim, Chang Sook Kim & Kyung-Hwan Boo

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  1. Jiwon Kim
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  2. Jae-Hoon Kim
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  3. Chang Sook Kim
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  4. Kyung-Hwan Boo
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Contributions

KHB conceived and designed the study; JK performed experiments and analyzed the data; JHK and CSK curated the data; JK prepared the original manuscript; JK and KHB completed the final manuscript. All authors have read the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its publication.

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Correspondence to Kyung-Hwan Boo.

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Kim, J., Kim, JH., Kim, C.S. et al. Improvement of seed germination in winter strawberry (Rubus buergeri Miq.). Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-023-00594-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-023-00594-z

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