Gene banks and Germination
A seed is one of natures many cherished treasures. It is because of seeds that we have fruits and vegetables to eat. Thanks to gene banks like the one at the World Vegetable Center seeds from many different species are conserved and protected. Since the beginning of my time here at the World Vegetable Center I have learned a lot about seeds and what they offer to world not only in present time but also in the future. At the center I work in the gene bank unit. The purpose of a gene bank is to preserve genetic material. The gene bank at the World Vegetable Center currently holds four hundred and thirty-nine different vegetable species from one hundred and fifty-one different countries. Along with holding fifty-nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven active accessions. An accession is a specific breeding line of plant material. Gene banks also play a critical role because they can store plant like material for varying amounts of time. Here they house seeds in short term which stores them at fifteen degrees Celsius for five to ten years. As well as mid term which store the material at five degrees Celsius for twenty to fifty years. Lastly they have long term which stores material at negative fifteen degrees for fifty to one hundred years.
Germination is the process in which an organism grows from a seed or other related materials. In order to determine if a seed will germinate or not you have to conduct a germination test. There are various methods for conducting a germination test but in the lab they mainly use two, petri dishes and paper. Now the size of the seed determines which method one will use in conducting their germination test. If you have a smaller seed the petri dish method will be used, if you have a larger seed then the paper method will be used. Vegetables like eggplant, cabbage, and radishes tend to have the smaller seeds. Unlike soybeans, mung beans, and bitter gourd which have larger seeds.
One of the reasons germination test are important is because they help to determine how long you can store a seed before it needs to be regenerated. Some seeds don’t have a long seed longevity, meaning that after a certain amount of time they begin to decline in a sense. Soybeans and bitter gourd are just a few examples. Contrary to mung bean seeds which tend to have a longer seed longevity. Germination test also help to show that the seeds can germinate properly in a controlled environment. There are many different factors to consider when conducting a germination test, such as water, light, temperature and more. Moisture test are normally done before doing the actual germination test. The point of a moisture test is to see if the moisture contents effects the germination of the seed later on down the line. As well as using it to see if after a certain amount of years does the moisture content begin to decline in a seed.
