Editorial Seed Science and Technology Volume 48 Issue 1 (2020)

Summary

This issue of Seed Science and Technology contains a number of interesting papers worth giving additional attention. There are five papers that deal with analysis and breaking of seed dormancy, an important issue, not only for commercial practice and breeding, but also for regeneration of habitats and safeguarding biodiversity. One paper in this issue describes how mucilage production by seeds can aid in overcoming drought stress during germination of seeds from a desert plant. Combatting seed borne diseases remains an important issue. One paper describes how treatment with a combination of two fungicides proved to be effective against seed transmitted seedling blight in Norway spruce. Another paper demonstrates a method to combat a seedtransmitted bacterial infection with watermelon in the seedling stage. Seed vigour tests are needed to give a better estimation of differences between seed lots regarding field emergence. A faster vigour test for tobacco seeds is proposed in a paper in this issue. Even traditional ISTA germination tests may be improved, as
demonstrated in a paper for spinach seeds, where especially large seeds can be sensitive to a high moisture level in the tests. Instruments initially used in high-technology industries or in medical care sometimes find their way
to seed science applications. An example described in this issue is the use of 3D X-ray computed tomography, which enables rapid non-destructive analyses of the morphology of individual seeds, which can be correlated with germination behaviour. Another paper is on the use of multispectral imaging for seed purity analysis with alfalfa seed lots.