Germination Factors

1500 Words3 Pages

ABSTRACT

Factors affecting germination are numerous and well studied (soil nutrient composition, water availability, temperature, etc). Others, such as seed size and its effects on the duration of seed germination have been largely unstudied. In this study, seeds from the plants P. vulgaris and L. culinaris were studied to observe any differences in the duration of germination, with P. vulgaris being the larger seed species. The data revealed that seeds from the L. culinaris took a shorter period of time to reach germination than did seeds from P vulgaris. It appears that seed size is the cause of the differences between the bean species but further studies are necessary to rule out other causes that could have caused this difference, mainly genetic mutation or variation.

INTRODUCTION

Plants are an important component of life on earth. They contribute to the production of oxygen which is essential to the survival of most animals. They also make up much of the biomass of earth and are consumed as a major food source by various organisms. Humans have optimized their survival through their knowledge of agriculture. They did so my manipulation of natural selection to optimize food production. Some examples include the bean, maize and potato. Since most had to be grown from seeds, knowledge of them was beneficial in the domestication of plant species (Hayden, 1992).

Most plants begin their lives as seeds. These seeds contain the embryos of a future plant and are the products of sexual reproduction in plants. Seeds also contain nutrients needed by the embryo emerge from the seed and begin forming a new plant. This process is known as germination. Germination is triggered when a seed is placed in conditions optimal for its developme...

... middle of paper ...

...d to seed size in Silverton’s study. He did not discuss any of the causes that might have led to its positive correlation (Silverton, 1981; Venable, 1992 ).

Limitations

Multiple sources of error could have taken place during the courses of the experiment. Errors in determining when germination had taken place since the inside of the seed cannot be observed, actual time of germination cannot be recorded. The external observance of germination may have been later than actual germination time because of this. Errors in determining when the germinated seed had produced photosynthetic pigments. There is no way of knowing that change in color of the seed is actual production of photosynthetic pigments and not other metabolic processes within the seed. Measurement of time may have been too broad and not be accurate enough to discern differences in germination times.

Show More
Related

  • The Effect of Gibberellic Acid on Wild Type and Rosette Brassica rapa Plants

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two members of the group were instructed to visit the laboratory each day of the experiment to water and measure the plants (Handout 1). The measurements that were preformed were to be precise and accurate by the group by organizing a standardized way to measure the plants. The plants were measured from the level of the soil, which was flat throughout all the cups, to the tip of the apical meristems. The leaves were not considered. The watering of the plants took place nearly everyday, except for the times the lab was closed. Respective of cup label, the appropriate drop of solution was added to the plant, at the very tip of the apical meristems.

    Read More

  • Effect Of Sugar On Wheatgrass

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    We used wheatgrass were 40 wheatgrass seeds, two empty pots, soil, and water. We first added soil for both pots and 20 wheatgrass seeds in each pot. My partner and I decided that we label pot one experiment which is “sugar and water” and pot two control which is “water” only. The experiment was for almost four weeks we had to make sure both get the same room temperature and water, so we can see the results after this amount of time. Both pots had same room temperature so both can have the same amount of sunlight also, the same amount of water which is a glass of water from the sink once a week. In the experiment pot we added a glass of water with one teaspoon of sugar and the control pot glass of water. Every week we used to see both pots grow almost the same. At the end of the experiment, my partner and I measured the length for both plants and we recorded the average for each plant, so we can know the rate of growth

    Read More

  • Fast Plant Growth Lab Report

    1928 Words  | 4 Pages

    Every student in a lab section planted eight seeds, two in each cell in a quad, to make sure that we had at least one plant for each week for 4 weeks. After planting the seeds we put the plants on a water mat tray to make

    Read More

  • Brassica Rapa Essay

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    Brassica rapa is a mustard plant that can be found throughout North America, and is common in areas undergoing extreme change, such as changes in climate. There is an important relationship between the ecological and genetic factors that influence the growth of Brassica rapa (Mitchell-Olds 1996). So, the environmental elements, as well as the genetic information, are essential to the growth rate and survival of Brassica rapa. This plant is capable of reproducing quickly, and the root systems are usually quite small, although some Brassica rapa have developed larger root systems (Mitchell-Olds 1996). This plant is commonly used in experiments because of its ability to germinate rapidly. Brassica rapa is capable of sprouting within a stage of about two weeks, and this trait allows scientists to perform experiments in a short period of time.

    Read More

  • The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    Humans have long recognized that flowers are an indication of future fruits. Therefore it was vital for nomadic hunters to remember where in the wild they saw flowers. And further yet each type of flower produced a specific fruit. Thus fruits and flowers had something in common; the preference of one fruit meant the preference of a type of flower. Most often, as in modern times, the most healthy looking flower shows signs that it will produce quality fruit. The beauty of a flower told hunters that a nutritious fruits would ripen after the flowers bloomed. This concept explains how we have evolved toward preferring healthy looking flowers. But how does this explain the security of a plants reproduction? It is necessary to mention that plants not only produce fruits to stop herbivores from eating the plant, but in their own diabolic plan, plants found a new way to spread their seeds through fruits. Herbivores would eat the fruits an...

    Read More

  • Rabbits in Australia

    2977 Words  | 6 Pages

    Through millions of years of evolution, well-balanced habitats have co-evolved to provide for the wide variety of species and their needs. Trees have adapted to weeds, weeds have adapted to the predation from herbivores, and so on up the food chain. Similar scenarios are seen throughout the world. Through the process of natural selection, specific species or broad species families will go extinct. However, these occurrences have largely been due to the natural flow and evolution of time. It wasn’t until recently that dominant species, such as humans, have taken the course of nature into their own hands.

    Read More

  • Comparison Between 50 Dried Peas And 50 Kidney Bean Seeds

    309 Words  | 1 Pages

    For years, natural selection has decided how each organism would evolve and which ones would prosper. In order to understand it more thoroughly, we placed 50 dried peas and 50 kidney bean seeds into a paper envelop filled with rice. We then proceeded to pull out seeds without looking from the bag. When analyzing the data we noted that over the generation the population of peas had grown while the kidney beans had vastly diminished. By taking in account the frequency of both seeds in the bag, we concluded that due to the small size of the peas, and the large size of the kidney beans, the peas survived to by blending in with the rice while the beans stood out.

    Read More

  • Neolithic Revolution

    897 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before the land of what we no class Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and other countries in the middle east grains, such as wheat and wild barley, could be seen growing in the wild without human hand to cultivate and nurture it (Authors 2007). Over time, humans began to recognize the benefit of the plants and began the first signs of human agriculture. The skill of farming took time and trial and error, but along the way, humans began to settle down to tend to their crops. Though the first crops were nothing more than seed s thrown about without rhyme or reason to the process we know today such as fields having, rows and sorting out the seeds to create a higher yield each harvest (Authors 2007). Because of the trial and error process, agriculture of plants did not take place of a short period but took many, many years to evolve to what we know today as agriculture; the new fa...

    Read More

  • Not For Humans Only By Peter Singer Summary

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    things that we cannot. As mostly everyone knows, plants make oxygen. Now, that may not seem like such a big thing, but it is that oxygen that keeps us alive. Because of that, I would say that what plants do is pretty amazing. We are not biologically the same as animals and plants, but that does not mean we are better. We should not think that they are inferior to us because of our intelligence, or neglect them because of it. In Peter Singer’s essay “Not for Humans Only: The Place of Nonhumans in Environmental Issues from Environmental Ethics,” he writes, “That one being is more intelligent than another does not entitle him to enslave, exploit or disregard the interests of the less intelligent being,” (57). Our intelligence is the reason that

    Read More

  • The physiology of Carrot seed crops in New Zealand

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    The carrot seed can take up to 21 days to germinate and needs to be regularly and lightly irrigated during this time and the soil carefully kept weed free. The hydration spurs the dormant seed into activity, splitting the testa resulting in radicle emergence. Once the hypocotyl has b...

    Read More

  • Plants

    572 Words  | 2 Pages

    Germination is the process of the plant embryo sprouting a seedling after a period of dormancy in a seed. (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2008) Dormancy comes from the Latin word meaning “to sleep.” This period of inaction in the seed is an adaptation to support the seed so it can survive though the harsh growing conditions. (Campbell, Reece, Urry, Cain, Qasserman, Minorsky & Jackson, 2008) Once these poor conditions are absent, the seed can then germinate. The seed will absorb the water, causing it to enlarge. The growing tip of the root will emerge from the seed, and the root will begin to grow. (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2008)

    Read More

  • The Importance of Fruit and Seed Dispersal in Plants

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    The purpose of this essay is to explore some of the mechanisms involved in the seed dispersal in plants. Plants are some of the most ancient biological organisms on the planet, and over the millennia they have adapted to utilise both the natural resources of the earth and the animals on it in order to spread their seeds. Without a variety of processes plants would be restricted to localised geographical areas, and this would limit their populations. This essay discusses some of the major ways that seeds can be dispersed: wind, water, animals, and gravity. It then includes a brief discussion of the changing globalised landscape, and where this discussion is located in contemporary discourse. The essay closes with a short conclusion.

    Read More

  • Seed Certification Essay

    1469 Words  | 3 Pages

    Seed certification is a quality assurance process. Seed intended for domestic or internationalmarkets is controlled and inspected by official sources in order to guarantee consistent high quality forconsumers. This is done by i) controlling the seed in previous generations; ii) carrying out field inspectionsduring the multiplication process to ensure there is little contamination and that the variety is true to type;iii) growing samples in control plots of the known seed to ensure that the progeny conform to thecharacteristics of the variety and iv) seed quality testing in laboratories (OECD,

    Read More

  • Seed Dispersal Essay

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    The seeds float on the top of the water, using the current and waves of the water to travel vast distances. Each seed need to have a tough, waterproof outside so that the seeds do not break open while in the water.

    Read More

  • Watermelons

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    In seedless watermelons, rudimentary seed structures form but remain small, soft, white, tasteless and undeveloped tiny seed coats that are eaten virtually undetected along with the flesh of the melon. Seed production for these seedless types is an extremely labor intensive process that makes the seeds relatively expensive. Because germination of these types is often less vigorous than normal types, it is recommended that they be started in peat pots or other transplantable containers. Here the germinating conditions can be closely controlled. Once transplanted, cultivation is similar to that for regular watermelons.

    Read More

More about Germination Factors

Open Document