TITLE:
Maintenance of Ephedra alata Seeds Viability via Storage Containers
AUTHORS:
Abdulaziz A. Al-Qarawi, Elsayed F. Abd_Allah
KEYWORDS:
Seedborne Fungi, Ephedra alata, Storage Containers, Saudi Arabia
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.1 No.2,
December
30,
2010
ABSTRACT: Sequential incubation of seed samples yielded 20 fungal species belonging to 13 genera. The prevalent genera were Aspergillus (A. flavus and A. parasiticus), Fusarium (F. moniliforme and F. oxysporum) and Penicillium (Penicillium sp.). Such seedborne fungi differ in their colonization in different parts of seeds with most of them are colonized in seed coat, endosperm, and embryo of the seed. The usage of different storage containers for storing seeds indicated that the cotton cloth bags were the most favorable ones as they maintain seed moisture content (SMC) below the critical level resulting in minimum seed deterioration compared with other seed storage containers.