Seed germination and subsequent development of male and female Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) collected in China
2002
Kanazawa, T. (Iwate Univ., Morioka (Japan). Faculty of Education) | Terui, K. | Oikawa, R. | Horaguchi, T. | Kikuchi, K. | Sato, K. | Araki, H. | Okagami, N. | Ding, Z.Z.
Seed germination and the subsequent development of male and female Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) collected in China were investigated. The accessions may serve as a source of germplasm for future breeding. The optimum temperature for seed germination was 11degC in the dark. Leaves proliferated rapidly 40 days after planting and the shoots elongated until 60 days after planting in 1-, 2- and 3-yr-old seedlings. New shoots emerged from the old tuber which shriveled as it supplied the new developing tuber with nutrients. The male seedlings produced more leaves than did female ones during their second and third years of growth. Fifteen out of nineteen 2-yr-old seedlings initiated inflorescences ; seven bore male flowers, while eight differentiated female flowers. The female flowers developed seeds which matured as the three-lobed capsules turned brown. The number of globular or ellipsoidal bulbils which form in the leaf axils increased annually. Their fresh weight did not differ between male and female seedlings. The length, fresh weight, and diameter of the tubers increased annually during the three seasons ; the tubers on the male seedlings were consistently larger than those from the female ones.
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