Final Seed Germination Paper
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Virginia Commonwealth University *
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Geography
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Dec 6, 2023
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docx
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The Effect of Different Salinity Levels of
MgCl2 on the Germination Rate of Buckwheat
Seeds over a Seven Day Period
:D
By: Michelle Vo
Bioz 151
Tuesday 8:00 am
March 17, 2020
Abstract
Fagopyrum esculentum is a plant that is cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The objective of this experiment was to test how different salinity levels of MgCl2 would affect the germination rate of the buckwheat seeds. The hypothesis of this experiment was that the higher the salinity concentration of the MgCl2, the slower the germination rate would be. This was hypothesized because a higher salinity content could reduce the amount of water that is absorbed by the buckwheat seeds. The results of this experiment proved the hypothesis correct in
that the higher the salinity content of the MgCl2, the slower it took for the buckwheat seeds to germinate. In conclusion, the higher the salinity content of a solution for buckwheat seeds, the slower the buckwheat seeds will take to germinate.
Introduction
Buckwheat is a type of fruit seed rather than a grain that can grow about 30-50 inches tall. A buckwheat plant proliferates and can sprout flowers. Since buckwheat has a fast-growing rate, it can grow in poor soil and is often grown in a period of rest in fields. The buckwheat plant was thought to be found in Southeast Asia, but it was later discovered in the Balkan area of Europe around 4000B.C. The buckwheat plant was popular in the United States from 1866 to 1960 where it severely declined. The buckwheat plant is typically used to make honey and resurfaced in the United States in the 1970s due to an increase of interest in cereal (Buckwheat History and Origins). Germination is defined as the development of a plant from a seed or spore after a period of dormancy (dictionary.com). A factor that can affect seed germination is the salinity of the water. The higher the salt content, the more the germination process of the seed is delayed (Agboola). This delay is due to the saline stress and the reduction of germination due to the high salinity levels and low water levels compared to pure water (Rubio-Casal). The salinity levels of the solution can hinder the germination process of the buckwheat seeds. The purpose of the current experiment was to compare the rate of growth between buckwheat seeds in a high salinity level solution and a zero-salinity level solution. The increase of salinity levels in one of the solutions should hinder the germination rate of the buckwheat seeds compared to a deionized water solution. The lab group was assigned 1M of MgCl2 for the salinity solution for the buckwheat seeds.
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Materials and Methods
This experiment started off with collecting 20 buckwheat seeds. We then took 2 reclosable sandwich bags and labeled one bag “DI Water” and the second bag “1 M of MgCl
2
.” We then placed 10 seeds in a folded paper towel and placed each paper towel filled with seeds in each of the bags. After, we then put 6mL of deionized Water in the “DI Water” labeled bag and 6mL of 1M of MgCl
2
in the bag labeled “1 M of MgCl
2
.” The bags are then sealed and placed in a dark location at room temperature, about 20-22 °C. The seeds are then checked every night between 8 pm to 12 am by taking the paper towel out of the bag and counting how many seeds have germinated. Do not allow the seeds to receive light for more than 2 minutes while counting seeds. Any observations are recorded in the provided data sheet every day for a week.
Results
The buckwheat seeds that were not treated with anything with the deionized water germinated and sprouted at an exponential rate. The buckwheat seeds that were treated in the 0.5 M MgCl2 solution germinated at a slower rate compared to the deionized water buckwheat seeds. The buckwheat seeds that were in the 1 M MgCl2 solution barely germinated until the 3
rd
day, or even never germinated. None of the 2 M MgCl2 solution seeds germinated due to the high salinity content in the liquid. In table 1, It shows that the most exponential growth of the control solution was between the second and third day with the mean almost doubling. Over the span of these seven days, most of the control group of buckwheat seeds germinated on the second or third day compared to the rest of the days. For the 0.5 M MgCl2 solution buckwheat seeds, most of the seeds germinated on the sixth to seventh day out of the seven total days. The 1 M MgCl2 solution buckwheat seeds germinated the most on the fourth day, but only for one of the trials. The rest of the 1 M MgCl2 trials did not germinate at all throughout the seven test days. For the 2 M MgCl2 solution buckwheat seeds, none of the seeds germinated at all any day of the week. In figure 1, it shows that the buckwheat seeds barely germinated if they were in a high salinity solution.
Day 1 Day2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
Control
2 M
1 M
0.5 M
Number of Seeds Germinated Figure 1
: The mean germination rate of varying salinities of the MgCl2 solution the seeds were
soaked with in the paper towels. Table 1
: The mean average of seeds that germinated throughout the seven days.
Mean Germ Rate
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Control
0.25
3.63
7.88
8.75
9.13
9.69
9.81
2 M
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1 M
0
0
0.33
1
1
1.17
1.67
0.5 M
0.2
0.6
0.6
2.4
3.2
4.2
5.2
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Discussion
The different salinity solutions greatly affected the germination rate of the buckwheat seeds. The higher the salt content in the solution, the more it reduces the germination rate of the buckwheat seeds. The objective of this experiment was to observe the lessened growth rate of the
buckwheat seeds with the higher contents of MgCl2 in the solutions. The main point that was taken away from the results of this experiment was that the hypothesis was proven to be correct with the seeds taking more time in order to germinate due to the higher salinity content in the solution that the buckwheat seeds were soaked in. However, there could be some outside influences that could have affected the results of this experiment. Some of these outside influences could be not being able to control the temperature of the area the seeds were kept in, the amount of light the seeds were exposed to, and if the seeds were moved at all during the growth process. According to the Effects of temperature and salinity on Ruppia sinensis
seed germination, seedling establishment, and seedling growth, they state that “the process of seed germination could be divided into three types: a) seeds germinated immediately, and reached the maximum number of germinated seeds within 10 days; b) the germination of seeds was delayed, and the lower temperature they were cultured, the longer germination was delayed, and c) the seeds didn’t germinate” (Gu). According to Gu’s article, the buckwheat seeds that were experimented on during this experiment fall into the second category on how the germination of the seeds were delayed. In Rubio-Casal’s article, it was stated that “most seeds that did not germinate were in a state of dormancy” (Rubio-Casal). The different levels of salinity in the solutions could have placed the seeds in a dormant state, which could explain the delay in germination of the buckwheat seeds that were in the MgCl2 solutions.
This experiment might need to be replicated in order to be in more controlled settings compared to the college student lifestyle the seeds were put through. Something that could be changed for the next experiment is a controlled temperature environment, the amount of sunlight the seeds will be getting, and the amount of stress the seeds will be undergoing. Other additional information that could have been useful in this experiment is the comparison of the different lengths of the roots that sprouted from the seeds in the different solutions. A few questions that could arise from the results of this experiment could be about how the experiment could have been more controlled, what other measurements could have been taken with the buckwheat seeds, etc.Further research is can be acquired to determine the exact delay rates of the MgCl2 solutions to the buckwheat seeds.
Literature Cited
Agboola, D.A.. “Effect of saline solutions and salt stress on seed germination of some tropical forest tree species.” Revista de biologia Tropical
, vol.46, n.4, 1998, pp. 1109-1115, https://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-
77441998000400017#1a
. “Buckwheat History and Origin.” Ancient Grains
, 20 Mar. 2015, www.ancientgrains.com/buckwheat-history-and-origin/.
"germination."
Dictionary.com
. Dictionary, 2020.
Gu, Ruiting, Zhou, Yi, Song, Xiaoyue, Xu, Shaochun, Zhang, Xiaomei, Lin, Haiying, Xu, Shuai, Zhu, Shuyu. “Effects of temperature and salinity on Ruppia sinensis
seed germination, seedling establishment, and seedling growth.” Marine Pollution Bulletin
, vol.134, 2018, pp. 177-185, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X17306835#!
Rubio-Casal, A. E., Castillo J. M., Luque C. J., Figueroa M. E.. “Influence of salinity on germination and seeds viability of two primary colonizers of Mediterranean salt pans.” Journal of Arid Environments
, vol.53, n.2, 2003, pp. 145-154, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196302910426?via%3Dihub
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