Smoke water
William Hoffmann (Thu, 13 Nov 2014 02:42:39 PST)
Some very interesting work has been done to identify how smoke
promotes germination. A compound called Karrikinolide that is present
in smoke is believed to be the primary factor that breaks seed
dormancy. It appears to act similarly to gibberellin or works
synergistically with giberellin. It can have an effect at very low
concentrations, so not much needs to reach the seed to have an effect.
Karrikinolide has been found soil after fire, so it may not be
necessary for direct contact between smoke and the seed to have an
effect.
I think the actual material which breaks down germination inhibitors is, in
the majority of cases, charate. Smoke probably doesn’t come into contact
with seeds long enough for anything to happen.
--
William A. Hoffmann
Associate Professor
Department of Plant Biology
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7612
Phone: (919) 513-7668
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~wahoffma/labhome/…
_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/