Seed vigor of contrasting rice cultivars in response to elevated carbon dioxide

Published Date

July 2015, Vol.178:63–68, doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2015.03.023

Title 

Seed vigor of contrasting rice cultivars in response to elevated carbon dioxide

• Author 

• Chen Chen ^a,b
• Qian Jiang ^a,b
• Lewis H. Ziska ^c
• Jianguo Zhu ^a
• Gang Liu ^a
• Jishuang Zhang ^a,b
• Kang Ni ^a
• Saman Seneweera ^d
• Chunwu Zhu ^a,,

• aState Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China
• bGraduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
• cUSDA-ARS, Crop Systems and Global Change Lab, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
• dCentre for Systems Biology, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba QLD 4350 Australia

Received 25 March 2015. Accepted 30 March 2015. Available online 18 April 2015.

Abstract

Although a number of studies have shown that rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, [CO₂], can differentially affect the growth and yield potential of rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars, there has been no attempt to determine if the response is associated with changes in seed vigor, an essential aspect of crop establishment. Because previous investigations have shown that [CO₂] can change the grain structure and quality of rice seed, we hypothesized that [CO₂] would decrease vigor via decreased germination rates. To test this hypothesis, we used an in situ, free-air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) system to assess seed quality in six rice cultivars that differed in their growth and reproductive response to rising [CO₂]. Elevated [CO₂] had no effect on seed hull thickness or seed specific gravity, but did significantly reduce total nitrogen and protein concentration for all cultivars. Despite the changes in grain physical and chemical traits associated with germination, no clear indication of quantitative effects of elevated [CO₂] on rice germination was found.

Keywords

Cultivars

Elevated CO₂

Germination rate

Germination energy

Seed vigor

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• ⁎ 
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