Inducing Seed Germination of Egyptian Broomrape (Orbanchea aegyptiaca Pers.) in Absence of the Host Plant

A constrain for basic research on broomrape is unsatisfactory seed germination of this parasitic weed, particularly in the absent of host plant. In this research, the effect of few factors on seed germination of Egyptian broomrape (Orobanche aegyptiaca) was studied in vitro and in the absence of host plant as a factorial experiment. Immersing the seeds in sulfuric acid at 100 or 50 percent concentration for 30 or 60 seconds, exposing them to gibberellic acid at 0 (control) 100, 250 or 500 ppm and incubation at 15, 20 or 25 oC were the treatments. The results indicated that gibberellic acid at all concentrations significantly reduced the seed germination. Immersing the seeds in sulfuric acid at 50% concentration for 60 seconds and incubation at 15 oC, with 44% germination, significantly enhanced the germination more than the other treatments. On seed germination, the effect of temperature was more pronounced than two other factors.