The effects of stratification on the rate of germination in the weed Arabidopsis thaliana were investigated using different germination conditions. The ecotypes used were Landsberg erecta (ler-0), Wassilewskija (WS-2) and the Colombia (Col-4). The conditions involved either; being left in the fridge at 4ºC overnight/3days, being left in the freezer at -20ºC for 1/2/4/8 hours or being frozen with liquid nitrogen. They were then transferred to the glass house and results were recorded everyday for 2weeks. The growth of the seedlings was characterised in two ways. The first involved the identification of cotyledons (these were defined as A), the second was only noted once true leaves had formed (these were defined as B).
The WS-2 was the only ecotype that in some instances had significantly improved rates of germination. The Col-4 ecotype generally germinated more seeds than the other ecotypes but never by any significant amount. When left in the fridge overnight the WS-2 significantly improved its rate of germination compared to the control with a T-test of 0.01. Again, in the Liquid Nitrogen condition the WS-2 line performed better statistically than the control with a T-test of 0.04. However only a handful showed significant improvement and the outcome of the experiment was that stratification did not have an effect on germination. Possible reasons for this primarily involved the conditions in which the seeds were stored. The seeds are stored at their optimum condition, so close to germination that stratification has no effect on the rate of germination.
Possible future experiments could involve using the same conditions as this experiment but with seed that has been harvested directly from the plant. This would negate the effects of seed storage having an influential role in seed germination.
Abstract,Introduction,Germination,Dormancy,Temperature,Light,Ecotypes
Ecotype-Storage,Soil preperation,Seed Sowing,Germination-Conditions,Measurement of Results
Cond1,Cond1rep,Cond2,Cond3,Cond4,Cond5,Cond6,Cond6rep,Cond7,Cond8