Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important food and bioenergy crop globally. One of the most significant methods for germplasm development and variety selection is hybridization. However, a series of problems including difficulty in seed germination hinder severely the development of new cultivars. Thus, in present study, seed dormancy characteristics as well as dormancy breaking methods were investigated with freshly harvested natural hybrid seeds of SC124. The cassava seeds are oval and contain a seed coat, endosperm and embryo according to the observation of anatomy and scanning electron microscopy. The outer epidermis is smooth and contains epidermal layer, spongy parenchma and densely arranged palisade parenchma from outside to the inside. The seed coat and seed caruncle slow down the water absorption of cassava seeds, while the primary reason for inducing seed dormancy is the mechanical hindrance of seed coat and the existence of the inhibitor, which could be classified as physiological dormancy. Treatments by scarified seed micropyle, removing seed coat and scarified seed micropyle + two alternating cycles of moist cold temperature (0 ℃) for 2 h followed by moist warm temperature (30 ℃) for 2 h could effectively break seed dormancy and improve seed germination percentage. Treatment by scarified seed micropyle was the most effective methods, which promoted seed germination from 2% to 88% and germination rate was also the fastest. The optimum temperature for germination of cassava seeds was 35 ℃, and the germination percentage and germination index was 88% and 36.6, respectively. The research could provide scientific basis for understanding seed structure, seed dormancy characteristics and the best broken method for cassava seeds in production practice, and also provide a theoretical reference for the expression of excellent traits of cassava hybrid offspring.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |