1 Seed germination process

The physiology and seed technology have provided valuable tools for the production of high quality seed and treatments and storage conditions (Marcos-Filho, 1998). In basic research, the seeds are studied exhaustively, and the approach of its biology is performed to fully exploit the dormancy and germination (Penfield & King, 2009). An important tool for indicate the performance of a seed lot is the precise quantification of germination through accurate analysis of the cumulative germination data (Joosen et al., 2009). Time, velocity, homogeneity, uncertainty and synchrony are measurements that inform the dynamics of the germination process. It is interesting not only for physiologists and seed technologists, but also for environmentalists, since it is possible to predict the degree of success of the species, based on the seed crop ability to redistribute germination over time, allowing the recruitment of part of the seedlings formed (Ranal & Santana, 2006).

References

Joosen, R. V. L., Kodde, J., Willems, L. A. J., Ligterink, W., Plas, L. H. W. van der, & Hilhorst, H. W. M. (2009). Germinator: A software package for high-throughput scoring and curve fitting of arabidopsis seed germination. The Plant Journal, 62(1), 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-313x.2009.04116.x

Marcos-Filho, J. (1998). New approaches to seed vigor testing. Scientia Agricola, 55, 27–33. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-90161998000500005

Penfield, S., & King, J. (2009). Towards a systems biology approach to understanding seed dormancy and germination. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1673), 3561–3569. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0592

Ranal, M. A., & Santana, D. G. de. (2006). How and why to measure the germination process? Revista Brasileira de Botânica, 29(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0100-84042006000100002