Seed dormancy, germination and storage behavior of Magnolia sinica, a plant species with extremely small populations of Magnoliaceae

Magnolia sinica is one of the most endangered Magnoliaceae species in China. Seed biology information concerning its long-term ex situ conservation and utilization is insufficient. This study investigated dormancy status, germination requirements and storage behavior of M. sinica. Freshly matured seeds germinated to ca. 86.5% at 25/15 degrees C but poorly at 30 degrees C; GA3 and moist chilling promoted germination significantly at 20 degrees C. Embryos grew at temperatures (alternating or constant) between 20 degrees C and 25 degrees C, but not at 5 degrees C or 30 degrees C. Our results indicate that M. sinica seeds possibly have non-deep simple morphophysiological dormancy (MPD). Seeds survived desiccation to 9.27% and 4.85% moisture content (MC) as well as a further 6-month storage at-20 degrees C and in liquid nitrogen, including recovery in vitro as excised embryos. The established protocol ensured that at least 58% of seedlings were obtained after both cold storage and cryopreservation. These results indicate that both conventional seed banking and cryopreservation have potential as long-term ex situ conservation methods, although further optimized approaches are recommended for this critically endangered magnolia species. Copyright (c) 2021 Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study investigated the dormancy status, germination requirements, and storage behavior of Magnolia sinica. The results suggest that M. sinica seeds have non-deep simple morphophysiological dormancy and can be conserved through conventional seed banking and cryopreservation methods.