Longevity of Seeds stored in a Genebank: Species Characteristics. (3449)
Authors:
C. Walters* - USDA-ARS, Fort Collins, CO L. Wheeler - USDA-ARS, Fort Collins, CO J. Grotenhuis - USDA-ARS, Fort Collins, CO
Abstract:
Seed genebanks maintain genetic resources within seeds over decades or centuries.
The aging rate characteristic of a seed species provides essential guidelines for storage conditions, monitoring and regeneration needs of the genebank. This paper consolidates germination data from 42,000 accessions of seeds representing 276 species within the USDA National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) collection.
Seeds were stored for about 40 years at 5C and -18C and near optimal moisture conditions. Germination time courses that represent average performance of the species were fit to Avrami kinetics in order to calculate the time at which
germination characteristically declines to 50% (P50). Values of P50 calculated here correlated with other longevity surveys reported in the literature for seeds stored under controlled conditions. Some plant families had characteristically short- (e.g.
Apiaceae and Brassicaceae) or long- (e.g. Malvaceae and Chenopodiaceae) lived seeds. Also, seeds from species that originated from some areas had
characteristically short- (e.g. Europe) or long- (e.g. South Asia and Australia) shelf lives. The analyses provide general information on the storage behavior of species.
This information will provide genebank operators a biological basis to prioritize processing procedures.
Speaker Information: Christina Walters, USDA-ARS, Fort Collins, CO, USDA-ARS-NCGRP1111 So. Mason Street, Fort Collins, CO 80521; Phone:
970-495-3202; E-mail: [email protected]
Session Information: Tuesday, November 2, 2004, 1:15 PM-2:35 PM Presentation Start: 2:05 PM
Keywords: genebank; seeds; longevity; species
