Selection of the optimal sterilization protocol of safflower seeds by the “Lysoformin-3000”

Federal Scientific Centre of Agroecology, Complex Melioration and Protective Afforestation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 400062 Volgograd, Russia

^* Corresponding author: berestnevayuv@mail.ru

Abstract

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an economically important oil seed crop. Contamination of its seed leads to a decrease in seed germination, crop yields and product quality. The research of determination of the safflower seeds optimal sterilization protocol by the "Lysoformin-3000" at the stage of introduction to the in vitro culture was carried out. The research consisted of several experiments. The first stage of the study included the seeds treatment by a sterilizing agent with a concentration of 0.5 % to 5 % and an exposure time of 3 and 7 minutes, followed by germination in Petri dishes according to the generally accepted method (GOST 12038-84). The second stage was the germination of safflower seeds directly in vitro culture using the best sterilization protocol from the first experiment. The absence of manifestations of contamination in the samples, as well as the germination of seeds was assessed. It was found that the highest yield of viable aseptic explants can be obtained by keeping the seeds in a 5 % aldehyde sterilizer solution for 3 minutes.