Impact of Gibberellic Acid on Seed Germination

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Does Gibberellic Acid affect the germination of seeds?

INTRODUCTION
There are many factors that influence the germination of plant seeds. Adequate warmth and moisture seem to be essential prerequisites but many seeds fail to germinate even under optimal conditions. It has been noted that the gibberellin hormone can break dormancy in seeds, by removing inhibition effects of light (Chen and Chang, 1972). It has been suggested that growth of soil fungi that release gibberellins may be a trigger for seeds to germinate because the fungi will only grow extensively if there is persistent moisture in the soil. (Note: cactus seeds are often very slow to germinate and germination may be spread over many months. This can be rationalised as a response to the need not to germinate too soon after wetting because there may not be sufficient …show more content…

e.g. Ha1 : Low levels of gibberellic acid ( 500 ppm) will
inhibit germination of Ferocactus seeds.
Ha2 : Germination of radish seeds will be increasingly inhibited as the concentration of GA is increased.

Method:
Label 20 snap-lock bags with your group members names.
Name 10 bags with one seed species and the remaining 10 bags with your other seed species.
For the first 10 seed-species bags, label 2 bags for each GA concentration: 0ppm, 125ppm, 250ppm, 500ppm, 1000ppm (this will give you 2 trials of germination, to increase the reliability of your results).
For the last 10 seed-species bags, label 2 bags for each GA concentration: 0ppm, 125ppm, 250ppm, 500ppm, 1000ppm (this will give you 2 trials of germination, to increase the reliability of your results).
Place a 11.5cm x 8cm piece of paper towel inside each bag.
Wet each paper towel with precisely 3 mL of GA solution appropriate to the label on the bag. The 0ppm bags will just get pure water (no GA solution

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