African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (19), pp. 2231-2235, 4 October 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

The influence of temperature, light, salinity and seed pre-treatment on the germination of Sesbania sesban seeds

Truong Hoang Dan^1* and Hans Brix²

¹Department of Environment and Natural Resources Management, College of Agriculture, Cantho University, Cantho City, Vietnam.

²Department of Biological Sciences, Aarhus University, Ole Worms Allé, Building 1135, 8000 Århus C., Denmark

*Corresponding author. E-mail: thdan@ctu.edu.vn. Tel: 84-71-830635. Fax: 84-71-830247.

Accepted 3 July, 2007

The germination of Sesbania sesban seeds was studied under controlled environmental conditions. Interactive effects of temperature and light, effects of salinity and effects of different pre-treatments of seeds were studied. Sesbania seeds were placed in Petri dishes with filtration paper and the germination and radical development followed during seven day periods. The seeds generally germinated within one or two days. There was no difference in percent germination between dark and light treatments, but the development of radical length was significantly influenced by both light conditions and temperature. Germination was highest at 30 and 37ºC (up to 85%) but seeds also germinated readily at 22ºC. No germination was observed at low (5 and 13ºC) and high (45ºC) temperatures. Salinities up to 100 mM NaCl (5.8 ppt) did not influence the germination percentage, but at 200 and 250 mM germination was reduced to 29 and 17% respectively. Pre-treatment of seeds in hot water, sulphuric acid or calcium sulphate had only minor effect on germination rate. The results are consistent with S. sesban being an opportunistic tropical wetland species capable of establishing itself in a wide range of environmental conditions. 

Key words: Temperature, light, salinity, germination, acid pre-treatment, hot water pre-treatment, Sesbania sesban.