Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons^™

Breaking Seed Dormancy In Three Poaceae Species, Heidi Jo Larson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Seed dormancy is a major impediment to germination testing in seed testing laboratories. Dormant seeds are alive but do not germinate under conditions favorable for germination of non-dormant seeds of the same species. Dormancy in many p􀊆ant species can be broken using a single ·treatment or a combination of treatments. Treatments commonly used are light or dark, various temperature regimes, prolonged exposure to cold treatments (pre-chilling), and the use of growth hormones or other chemicals. Three Poaceae species, winter wheat (Triticum aestiivum), prairie drop seed V (Sporobolus heterolepis), and prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), were the subject …