Germination and cryopreservation tolerance of seeds from the rare aromatic species Thymus lotocephalus

Coelho, Natacha; Gonçalves, Sandra; González-Benito, María Elena; Romano, Anabela

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/2588

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Authors

Coelho, Natacha

Gonçalves, Sandra

González-Benito, María Elena

Romano, Anabela

Abstract(s)

Thymus lotocephalus G. López and R. Morales is a rare aromatic species endemic from the south region of Portugal. We investigated the germination behavior and the cryopreservation tolerance of T. lotocephalus seeds collected from four populations. Seeds were set to germinate at 15 or 25 ◦C under light or darkness. The best germination temperature tested was 15 ◦C, under either light or darkness, with final germination percentages above 80% and mean germination time (MGT) below 10 days. The results showed that T. lotocephalus has non-dormant seeds. Seeds from different populations presented few differences on the final germination percentage and MGT. To assess seed tolerance to cryopreservation, they were directly immersed in liquid nitrogen for 30 days. Overall, we found that cryopreservation was non-detrimental to germination of T. lotocephalus seeds, thus being a reliable method for germplasm conservation of this endangered species.

Keywords

Endangered species Conservation Lamiaceae Liquid nitrogen Seed storage

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/2588

Citation

Coelho N., Gonçalves S., González-Benito M. L., Romano A. 2012. Germination and cryopreservation tolerance of seeds from the rare aromatic species Thymus lotocephalus, Scientia Horticulturae 145: 84–86