© 1998 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Comparative seed ecophysiology of wild and cultivated Carica papaya trees from a tropical rain forest region in Mexico
Leoncio Paz (1) and Carlos Vázquez-Yanes (1, 2)
1. Instituto de Ecología UNAM, Apartado Postal 70-275, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Mexico D.F. / 2. Author to whom correspondence should be addressed
(cvazquez@miranda.ecologia.unam.mx ) / Received March 20, 1997
Summary
To ascertain the effects of centuries of cultivation practices on seed behavior and dormancy mechanisms, we compared seed
size and germination characteristics of wild and cultivated (domesticated) populations of Carica papaya L. Germination experiments were carried out under various conditions of temperature, light, seed soaking and gibberellic
acid treatments. Wild papaya seeds showed responses to treatment that are characteristic of seeds of many rain forest pioneer
trees. Seeds were small and light sensitive, whereas cultivated papaya seeds were 33% larger and their light responses as
well as other physiological traits indicated that cultivation had resulted in a lessening in the importance of specific environmental
conditions for dormancy breaking and germination.
Keywords:
dormancy, germination rate, giberellic acid treatment, light sensitivity, seed dormancy, seed size, seed soaking, temperature
alternations.
