Dear Mathias,

I hope the following two attached papers help. The first one has some protocol inside.

1- Temperature Response of Vernalization in Wheat: A Developmental Analysis

2- Simulating the Influence of Vernalization, Photoperiod and Optimum

Temperature on Wheat Developmental Rates

Regards,

Seyed

Two more papers that might be helpful.

1) Temperatures and the growth and development of wheat: a review

2) Responses of wheat to vernalization and photoperiod @  www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=AR9850347

To my understanding, winter forms of cereals can only be vernalized in a stage of seedlings, there is no way how to overcome this process with seeds, similar to moist stratification.

You can contact ISTA organization (International seed testing Association). They are specialized in seed lot quality testing for certification. Certification the obligatory step for seed companies before selling their seed lots on the market. They discribed in the ISTA handbook all the conditions and requirement needed for many crops. (Seed purity, germination assay...)

https://www.seedtest.org/en/about-ista-_content---1--1011.html

Vernalization at seedling stage in wheat seems more appropriate. You can try different periods of low temperature treatments to vernalize wheat seedlings.

This attached article gives you a 'general' protocol for winter wheat verbalization. However, vernalization requirements differ by variety. The exact number of vernalization days for most wheat varieties can be different. (see attachment, yellow highlights)

Dear All,

Thank you for some good suggestions. However, I'm not quite sure I have got an answer to my question. Arabidopsis seeds can be vernalised just by putting them in a fridge for some days.

Actually I have read that what made the later infameous Lysenko fameous was that he devised a similar method for Winter wheat, so that russian farmers could seed winter wheat in spring Thus not risking that it would die during the harsh Winter period.

see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernalization

 actully saying that Lysenko invented the word: Vernalization

Seeds of winter cereals are germinating independently on season, establishing and developing vegetatively. Wikipedia explains in detail: "Winter varieties do not flower until springtime because they require vernalization: exposure to low temperatures for a genetically determined length of time. Where winters are too warm for vernalization or exceed the hardiness of the crop (which varies by species and variety), farmers grow spring varieties. Spring cereals are planted in early springtime and mature later that same summer, without vernalization. Spring cereals typically require more irrigation and yield less than winter cereals."

If low temperature treatment of moist seeds is necessary to overcome dormancy, then this is stratification, but this is not the case with winter cereals. It is somehow incorrectly stated in the mentioned page of Wikipedia that "farmers observed a traditional distinction between "winter cereals," whose seeds require chilling (to trigger their subsequent emergence and growth)", because not seeds but seedlings require chilling.

I have not read any original publications of Lysenko, but then you just need to do that and to see what protocol he was using. But apart from that, why would you need to perform "vernalization" at seed stage instead of treating seedlings?

One of our PhD-students need to bring seeds of a Danish variety to China, where she will do a pot experiment this summer. That's why we would like to vernalize the seeds so she can reach to grow plants to maturity,

She should expose wheat seeds to different lengths of time in refrigerator to get them germinated.

In that case, I suggest using cold room treatment (around 4 °C?) with minimum light (40 micromol m–2 s–1, 6 h photoperiod) with seedlings for appropriate time (6 weeks?), then transfer them for further cultivation. Exact timing/temperatures need to be found from literature.

Hi,

Please, try to read a old good review, for example

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02879295

Dear Dr. Goncharow

Thank you for drawing my attention to this nice paper and the history of the subject.