Thermal shock as an alternative to extend the longevity of conditioned soybean seeds in a germplasm bank

• Grant number: 20/09266-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2020
• End date: August 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy
• Principal Investigator: Edvaldo Aparecido Amaral da Silva
• Grantee: Beatriz Fiorin Araldi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The priming technique in soybean seeds positively influences germination, vigor, production components, and productivity, however, it is known that there is a reduction in longevity. There is evidence that priming, when accompanied by thermal shock, is capable of partially reestablishing lost longevity, and may be applicable to small volumes of seeds, stored in seed banks, when in the process of deterioration. Thus, the objective will be to investigate whether the thermal shock employed after soybean seed priming is able to extend longevity. For this, the L1 and L2 genotypes will be divided according to the treatments: conditioned seeds and submitted or not to thermal shock and control (unconditioned). For priming, osmoconditioning will be performed with PEG 6000 at -1.0 MPa at 25ºC, for a period of 12h, then parts of the seeds will be washed and dried, while another part will be subjected to thermal shock for 2h at 38 ° C . After the treatments, the seeds will be evaluated for their physiological quality, through the tests of germination, seedling length, and dry mass, accelerated aging, emergence and longevity. The technique is expected to significantly restore seed longevity.(AU)