Effect of Negative Electrostatic Field Treatment on Germination of Seeds Soaked GA3
Antonio Piras1, Zhibin Gui2, Limin Qiao3, Kai Gui4, Yongxiang Fan5

1Antonio Piras, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
2Professor. Zhi-bin Gui, Microelectronics School of Xidian University, China.
3Li-min Qiao, Network School of Xidian University, Xi’an, 710071, China.
4Kai Gui, software engineer at AMD Corporation, Chengdu  China.
5Yongxiang Fan, Microelectronics School of Xidian University, China.
Manuscript received on June 03, 2013. | Revised Manuscript received on June 27, 2013. | Manuscript published on July 05, 2013. | PP: 191-194 | Volume-3 Issue-3, July 2013. | Retrieval Number: C1703073313/2013©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: Tree seed germination improvement of tree species with shallow dormancy may represent an effective process to enhance restocking of forests and woodlands that have been depleted. Although sometimes conflicting results have been obtained, some studies showed the beneficial effects of applied static electric field (electrostatic field) on seed germination and seedling growth. We think that the different treatment effects reported maybe depended on the dosage, exposition time, process and vigor index of the seeds. We previously showed improved tree seed germination of pine seeds by positive electrostatic field treatment using our apparatus and procedure, and the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of the negative electrostatic field treatment on germination, using the same experimental procedure. The results indicated that the negative electrostatic field treatment on pine seeds soaked with 100 ppm of gibberellic acid (GA3) is not so effective as the positive one, with slightly improved germination percentage at the electrical voltage of -500 kV/m 10 min, and increasing the intensity of the negative electrostatic gradient resulted in a reduction of seedling growth.
Keywords: Electrostatic Field, GA3, Germination, Seedling Growth, Soaked Seed.