I am a graduate student in Dr. Rajeev Arora's laboratory currently pursuing Ph.D. degree. I was born in Qingdao (in Shandong), a city in the east coast of China where 2008 Beijing Olympics sailing games were held. I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in 2003 from Shandong Agriculture University majoring in Biotechnology. I came to Iowa State University in Aug. 2007 as a Plant Science Institute Fellow in the department of Horticulture to conduct research under the guidance of Dr. Arora.

My research goal is to study the physiological mechanisms of seed priming. Seed priming is a type of pre-sowing seed treatment known to improve seed performance by increasing seed germination rate and uniformity. Seed priming exposes seeds to an external water potential which is low enough to prevent germination but allow seed partial hydration. During priming, water absorption by seeds is slowed and phase II of imbibition is extended. Priming is believed to regulate beneficial physiological and biochemical activities during the extended phase II of imbibition and consequently result in a rapid and synchronous germination.

Besides improving germination performance, seed priming could also enhance seed tolerance to salinity, drought, chilling, or supra-optimal temperatures. However, little is known about the physiological mechanisms of seed priming, which is what I plan to investigate. I will be using spinach (Spinacia oleracea L. cv. Bloomsdale) seeds as our research material.

Figure 1. Effect of Seed priming on germination performance. T_10-90 - days between 10 % and 90% of full germination - measure of synchrony (smaller the number, more uniform the germination and stand establishment); T₅₀ - days to 50% germination- measure of germination speed (smaller the number, faster the germination)

Figure 2. Water absorption during seed germination of non-primed seeds and during seed priming.