Mensah et al Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 10(2), pp. 57-62, 2020 ISSN: 2276-7770; Copyright ©2020, the copyright of this article is retained by the author(s) https://gjournals.org/GJAS Effects of GA3, BAP and KNO3 on the Germination and DNA Content of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Mensah, S.I.; Ejeagba, P.O.; Okonwu, K. Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article No.: 021720037 Type: Research Effects of gibberellic acid (GA3), 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and potassium nitrate (KNO3) on the seed germination and DNA concentration of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) radicle were assessed. The concentrations of these growth stimulants were 0 mM, 1 mM, 5 mM and 10 mM. The cucumber seeds were surface sterilized in ethanol for 5 minutes and rinsed with distilled water before pretreatment with these growth stimulants. The germination study was allowed to stand for 14 days and DNA concentration of cucumber radicle with the highest germination count was determined for each growth stimulant. The study showed that cucumber seeds had higher germination count under the light condition than in the dark condition. However, it is not statistically different. The study also showed that percentage germination of cucumber seeds was enhanced by GA3 (57 – 72%) and BAP (62 – 70%) when compared to the Control (50%) except KNO3 (41 – 44%). Across the treatments, GA3 gave the highest germination percentage followed by BAP with 5 mM concentration producing the highest germination count while 10 mM recorded the highest in KNO3. The DNA concentration of the cucumber radicle that produced these highest germination percentage are: GA3 (47.40 ng/µl), BAP (98.87 ng/µl), KNO3 (103.23 ng/µl) and Control (79.73 ng/µl). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that treatments are significant at p-value (0.0001) < 5% significant level for cucumber seed. The study recommends the use of 5 mM GA3 in germinating cucumber seeds. Accepted: 19/02/2020 Published: 25/04/2020 *Corresponding Author Okonwu, K. E-mail: kalu.okonwu@ uniport.edu.ng Keywords: growth stimulants; concentration; germination; cucumber seed Return to Content View [Full Article – PDF] [Full Article – HTML] [Full Article – EPUB] Post-Publication Peer-review Rundown View/get involved, click [Peer-review] REFERENCES: Bewley JD, Hempel FD, McCormick S and Zambryski P (2000). In: Buchanan BB, Gruissem W, Jones RL, (eds). Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants. American Society of Plant Physiologists, Rockville, MD; Pp. 988–1403. Bewley JD, Kent J, Bradford K, Hilhorst H and Nonogaki H (2013). Seeds: Physiology of Development, Germination and Dormancy, 3rd Edition. Springer New York; Pp. 1-399. 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