Abstract

VIABILITY LOSS OF BAMBOO SEEDS OF THREE SPECIES ASSOCIATED WITH MEMBRANE PHASE BEHAVIOUR DURING STORAGE

Geetika Singh*, Richa and M. L. Sharma

ABSTRACT

Bamboo flowers after a long interval and generally flowering is infrequent. Moreover seeds are scarcely available and also they have a very short viability of 2-3 months .Generally they are stored under controlled condition of 4 degree Celsius in desiccators under anhydrous calcium chloride to maintain viability for longer period of time. During storage, deterioration increases with ageing. Biological membranes with a normal composition and organisation regulate the transport of material into and out of the cell. Damage to the organisation of cell membrane during seed ageing may constitute an important factor in explaining seed deterioration. The damage caused to membrane through deterioration that provides lower selectivity and hence increase in the leakage of solutes to the environment is one of the main cause of the decline in the physiological quality of seeds. One of the major changes during seed storage is membrane deterioration, which leads to the loss of seed viability. The aim of the study is to correlate membrane integrity deterioration with seed viability or physiology during storage upto 18 months in 3 species of bamboo seeds, i.e Dendrocalamus strictus, Bambusa bambos and Dendrocalamus hamiltonii.c

Keywords: Deterioration, physiology, membrane integrity, seed viability, storage.