Hi there, I'm looking for a way to measure the Arabidopsis germination rate, like what media I should use to plant the seeds and what indicator I should see for germination. I'm planning to compare the germination rate between seeds from wild-type (Columbia-0) and seeds from wild-type plants that have been treated with a combination of heat and drought stress. For information, The current media that my lab has right now is Jiffy-7 pellet. Thanks.
Hi Nicolas,
There are different ways to measure seeds germination. And as long as you do exactly the same for both your sample and the control they all should be fine. Starting from the media: you can germinate your seed on soil (Jiffy pellet also), agar plates with MS or wet paper (eg. Whatman paper). I would personally avoid soil, because it will be harder for you to count the seeds. The easiest way is to sow the seeds on selected medium and then take pictures of plates/pots as the seeds begin to germinate. Usually the indicator of germination is a radical protrusion. So when you see that a root broke a seed coat you score this seed as germinated. You can count the germination rate in few subsequent days (this will allow you to say if one sample germinates slower or faster than the other) or you can just count total germination for every sample when you see no more new seeds germinating (I would say 7-10 days after sowing, depending on your plants). The germination rate will be presented as fraction of germinated seeds out of all seeds that you have sown.
Good luck!
Check methodology from this paper for lentils seed germination quantification:
Article Silicon improves seed germination and alleviates drought str...
Nicholas Raditya Putrawisesa There are so many indicators are available to document the seed germination process. personally I would advice to incorporate those one which can reflect total germination (FGP), time (MGT), speed (MGR) or mixed parametrs (GV or Timson index).
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