Effect of both Substrate and Light on Germination Process

Abstract

Germination refers to a process through which seeds crop out into a new plant. There are various requirements that are needed for the seed to germinate. Amongst the factors are light, substrate concentrations such as water and other environmental conditions that serve in the creation of the media that is conducive to the process to take place. Light and types of substrates that form the media for germination to take place are very vital in the germination of seed. They can either facilitate or lower the rate of germination depending on their conditions. For instance, light absence and presence bring different effects to the germinating seed as it is going to be demonstrated in this experiment. Similarly, other environmental conditions such as substrate concentration will either fasten or lower the germination processes. In the experimental report below, the major emphasis is on the effect of the light and substrate in the germination process. The introduction captures the effect of both light and substrate as discussed theoretically. The paper also highlights the apparatus that were used in the experiment together with the method that was used in investigating the effects of interesting factors for germination. Moreover, the results obtained from the experiment are tabulated and discussed in details. All the information in the paper is very important as it is used as an educational tool as highlighted under recommendations as well as in the discussion part. Thus all the information provided is useful.

Introduction

Germination of seeds highly depends on the various factors that are either biotic or abiotic which are mainly found in the environment (Wani et al, 2016). Some environmental factors are very stressful in terms of the seed development whereas others facilitate the process. One of the vital factors that are very useful for the growth of seeds includes light incidence. As far as light incidence is concerned, it is important noting that it is made up of a different form of light energy that serves different purposes during germination of seeds. Mainly, it is made up of the white light and red light. In the investigation of the effect of light on the seed development, there is a need to select a specific seed specifically the one that is light sensitive. For this reason, Lettuce seed is highly preferable over the other types of seeds due to its light sensitivity property.

Viewing the two types of light with light incidence, white light is highly recognized for promoting seed growth as opposed to the red light which in turn represses the seed (Wani et al, 2016). Similar, substrate on the other hand, has a certain effect on the germination of seed. In reference to the substrate, it is important recalling that germination process owes its success on the chemical reaction of the seed. Their operations in this manner are caused by the control of the phytochrome control that is associated with seed germination (Gaston et al, 2013). In regard to phytochrome control, it has been found that the pigment occurs in two different forms which are Pr a nd Pfr whose their difference is brought about by their varied wavelengths (Rosenthal, 2012). Correct absorption of an appropriate light incidence helps in dissociation of the pigment from one form into another. Consequently, the process of seed germination is enhanced as a result of the appropriate conversion of the pigment.

Similar, substrate, on the other hand, has a certain effect on the germination of seed. In reference to the substrate, it is important recalling that germination process owes its success on the chemical reaction of the seed. The chemical reaction, in this case, is based on the functioning of the enzymes (Gaston et al, 2013). Enzymes work on the seed's cotyledons in order to provide the seed with the energy that is required for the growth of the seed. As discussed under the factors that affect the enzymatic reaction, substrate concentration play a very major role in the function of the enzymes. Therefore, low concentration of substrate in a seed is associated with the slow growth of the seed. Moreover, there is a need for the suitable media for the effective functioning of the enzymes.

With the results obtained, it is clear that, with the presence of white light, the number of the seeds that sprouted out is very high. On the other hand, the presence of darkness is associated with low seed germination whereas the presence of all the components of incidence light the rate is high even though it is not as high as it is in the white light. In regard to the presence of far-red light only, the seed that germinated is very few in all the Medias. The above results are very vital for the determination of the effect of light and substrate as far as germination is concerned. In order to obtain the percentage of the germination, some calculations were taken. Normally, the method that has enabled the calculation of the percentage of germination is (Seed that germinated * 100%) / total number of seed used

Discussion

Water, tomato juice and miracle grow in this experiment serve as the medium that facilitates the germination. With the Miracle grow, the germination of the seed is very high compared to the other medium simply because miracle grows has some constitute that facilitates the germination of the seeds (Rosenthal, 2012). Water on the other hand, creates a medium that also facilitates the germination processes even though the rate at which seed germinates in the water medium is low compared to that exhibited in the miracle grow. As far as the tomato juice is concerned, it registered a slow germination process. In this case, it is clear that the enzymatic reaction works differently in the different medium (Wani et al, 2016). Apart from the above information, it can also be concluded that regardless of the medium, there is a need of considering light incidence bearing in mind that the incidence light energy consists of three forms of light which include white light, far-red light and red light. In regard to these forms of light, it is important noting that the different forms of light have different abilities in terms of promoting germination processes. Germination usually works effectively with white light compared to all other forms of light energy (Gaston et al, 2013). Thus, we can conclude by asserting that both forms of light present in the germination site together with the medium within the region are a very important factor as far as germination is concerned.

Method

In this experiment, there were various steps that are followed in order to attain the required results. The steps to follow are done on the eighteen separate plates and are as follows

• Pipette 3ml of water into plate 1-6, 3ml of tomato juice into plates 7-12 and 3ml of miracle grow into the rest of the plates.
• Turn off the laboratory plates after preparation of the plates and carry out the remaining part of the experiments with green light only.
• The plates are now subdivided into four main parts which includes
  1. Plate 1, 7 and 13.
  2. Plate 2, 8 and 14.
  3. Plate 3, 5, 9, 11, 15 and 17.
  4. Plate 4, 6, 10, 12, 16 and 18.
• The categories of the plates are subjected to different conditions in order to obtain the varied results that would, in turn, bring about the difference in seed germinations under different condition. The difference condition is white light, red light, darkness, far- Red light and the combination of all the lights.
• Add the lattice seeds, about fifty to each of the plates and make your own observation after a definite period of time.

References

Wani, S. H., Kumar, V., Shriram, V., & Sah, S. K. (2016). Phytohormones and their metabolic engineering for abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants.? The Crop Journal,? 4(3), 162-176.

p>Gaston, K. J., Bennie, J., Davies, T. W., & Hopkins, J. (2013). The ecological impacts of nighttime light pollution: a mechanistic appraisal. Biological reviews,? 88(4), 912-927. p>Rosenthal, I. (2012).? Electromagnetic radiations in food science? (Vol. 19). Springer Science & Business Media.

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