Gibberellic Acid–Induced Germination and the Effect of Cytokinin Type on Early Seedling Development in Mirabilis jalapa L.

Abstract

Processes of seed germination and early seedling development in Mirabilis jalapa L. are closely associated with dormancy mechanisms and hormonal regulation. The present study investigated the effects of different plant growth regulators on the germination and early seedling morphology of M. jalapa. Germination experiments were conducted in Petri dishes containing 25 seeds each, placed on filter paper, using gibberellic acid (GA₃) at concentrations of 100 and 200 µM. Furthermore, the effects of mechanical scarification, hot water treatment, and cold stratification on germination were evaluated. An assessment was made of early seedling development in media supplemented with 0.5 mg L-1 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.5 mg L-1 kinetin.Treatments with gibberellic acid (GA3) resulted in limited germination, with rates of 15% at 100 µM and 25% at 200 µM. The process of germination was initiated between days 28 and 32, and was concluded by day 56. No germination was observed in seeds subjected to mechanical, thermal, or cold stratification treatments. The application of cytokinin primarily exerted an influence on the post-germination morphology of seedlings, as opposed to the process of germination itself. Treatment with kinetin resulted in higher mean values for shoot length, leaf number, leaf size, and root length in comparison with BAP. In contrast, BAP induced a more compact shoot architecture while restricting root development. The results of this study underscore the significance of selecting appropriate plant growth regulators, taking into account the developmental stage, for the effective propagation of M. jalapa.

Keywords

• Hormonal regulation
• seed dormancy
• gibberellin
• cytokinin type
• in vitro

References

1. 1. Ramesh, B.N., Mahalakshimi, A.M., (2014). An Ethanopharmacological Review of Four o’ clock Flower Plant (Mirabilis jalapa Linn.). Journal of Biological & Scientific Opinion, 2 (6):344-348 http://dx.doi.org/10.7897/2321-6328.02679
2. 2. Peiris, D. S., Fernando, S. P., Senadeera, Chandana A. K., Ranaweera, C.B., (2022). Mirabilis Jalapa Linn.: A Folklore Ayurvedic Medicinal Plant in Sri Lanka. Asian Plant Research Journal 10 (2):21-41. https://doi.org/10.9734/aprj/2022/v10i2187
3. 3. Liya, F.I., Yasmin, F., Chowdhury, N.S., Charu, T.K., Fatema, I.B., (2021). Mirabilis jalapa: A Review of Ethno and Pharmacological Activities. Advancement in Medicinal Plant Research, 9(1): 1-10. https://www.netjournals.org/pdf/AMPR/2021/1/20-041.pdf
4. 4. Al-Snafi, A.E., Talab, T.A., Jabbar, W.M., & Alqahtani, A.M., (2021). Chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Mirabilis jalapa- A review. International Journal of Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences Archive, 01(02): 34-45. https://doi.org/10.30574/ijbpsa.2021.1.2.0303
5. 5. Rauf, S., Hameed, H., Tariq, M., Afareen, A., Gulfaraz, S., AlKubaisi, N. A., & Elshikh, M. S. (2025). Phytochemical-Mediated Synthesis and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles Using Mirabilis jalapa Leaf Extract and Their Antibacterial. Microscopy research and technique, 88(6):1795–1805. https://doi.org/10.1002/jemt.24801
6. 6. Saha, S., Subhas, N., Bose, C., Deb, J., Kanti, N., Subhas, D., et al., (2020). Review on Mirabilis jalapa L. (Nyctaginaceae): A medicinal plant. International Journal of Herbal Medicine, 8(2):14-8. https://www.florajournal.com/archives/2020/vol8issue2/PartA/7-4-71-436.pdf
7. 7. Khurian, J.C., (2003). Plants That Heals. Oriental Watchman Publishing House, Pune; 5: 214-215.
8. 8. Hărșan, E., Hărșan, E., Moldovan, I., Draghia, L., Cantor, M., (2025). Studies on the Propagation and Behavior of Some Biotypes of Mirabilis jalapa L. Romanian Journal of Horticulture, 6, 231-240. https://doi.org/10.51258/RJH.2025.23

9. 9. Ramlal, A., Quan, P.W., Rajendran, A., Sreeramanan S., (2025) Impact of biophysicochemical factors on micropropagation, haploidy and doubled haploidy in strawberry (Fragaria sp.): A critical revisit. Current Plant Biology 44, pages 100555. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/link_gateway/2025CPBio..4400555R/doi:10.1016/j.cpb.2025.100555
10. 10. Cao, K., Mu, Y., Lu, S., Zhao, Y., (2025). Regulatory Mechanisms of Exogenous Gibberellin on Seed Germination and Transcriptomic Responses in Lomatogonium rotatum. Genes (Basel). 26;16(8):878. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes16080878
11. 11. Bewley, J.D., Bradford, K.J., Hilhorst, H.W.M., & Nonogaki, H. (2013). Seeds: Physiology of Development, Germination and Dormancy (3rd ed.). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4693-4
12. 12. Solberg, S. Ø., Yndgaard, F., Andreasen, C., von Bothmer, R., Loskutov, I. G., & Asdal, Å. (2020). Long-Term Storage and Longevity of Orthodox Seeds: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in plant science, 11, 1007. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.01007
13. 13. Larson, A. J. S., Cartwright, M. M., Jones, W. D., Luce, K., Chen, M.-Y., Petersen, K., Nelson, S. V., Michaelis, D. J., & Madsen, M. D. (2023). Slow Release of GA3 Hormone from Polymer Coating Overcomes Seed Dormancy and Improves Germination. Plants, 12(24), 4139. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12244139
14. 14. Samsonová, Z., Kiran, N. S., Novák, O., Spyroglou, I., Skalák, J., Hejátko, J., & Gloser, V. (2020). Steady-State Levels of Cytokinins and Their Derivatives May Serve as a Unique Classifier of Arabidopsis Ecotypes. Plants, 9(1), 116. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9010116
15. 15. Wu, W., Du, K., Kang, X., Wei, H., (2021). The diverse roles of cytokinins in regulating leaf development. Hortic Res. 2021 Jun 1;8(1):118. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41438-021-00558-3
16. 16. Khan, N., (2025). Decoding phytohormone signaling in plant stress physiology: insights, challenges, and future directions. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 106099. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2025.106099
17. 17. Carloni, E.J.; Rodriguez, M.N.; Tommasino, E.; Ruolo, S.; Grunberg, K., (2025). Effect of different cytokinin concentrations on establishing an in vitro micropropagation system for hop (Humulus lupulus L.). N. Z. J. Crop Hortic. Sci. 53, 2233. https://doi.org/10.1080/01140671.2025.2458812
18. 18. Guerra, F., Montecinos, M., Salgado, I., González, J., Cautín, R., & Castro, M. (2025). Micropropagation of Quillaja saponaria: A Biotechnological Solution for Conservation and Sustainable Commercial Use of This Endemic Chilean Woody Species. Horticulturae, 11(12), 1498. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11121498
19. 19. Ullah, S., L., Shakir, M., Sohail, I., Hussain, F., Naz, A., Noreen, G., Dilawar N., (2025). Performance evaluation of different varieties of Mirabilis jalapa L. under agro-climatic conditions at Ghazi Umara Khan Degree College, Samarbagh (Dir Lower). Journal of Plant Health, Ecology and Evolution, 01(1): 28-38. https://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.jphee/2025/01.1.28.38
20. 20. Murashige, T., Skoog, F., (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bio assays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiol Plant 15:473–497. https://garfield.library.upenn.edu/classics1978/A1978FR51700002.pdf
21. 21. Hassan, M.M., (2017). Improvement of In Vitro Date Palm Plantlet Acclimatization Rate with Kinetin and Hoagland Solution. In: Al-Khayri, J., Jain, S., Johnson, D. (eds) Date Palm Biotechnology Protocols Volume I. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1637. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7156-5_16