Method for germinating turions isolated from duckweed

Method for Promoting Germination of Duckweed Turions Combining Storage Condition Management and Heat Treatment

This technology involves heat-treating turions isolated from duckweed at 60–70°C, followed by incubation under optimal temperature and light conditions to induce germination. It also includes a pre-treatment step of storing the turions in a cool, dark environment for a specific period before heat treatment.

Duckweed is widely used in livestock feed, medicinal applications, recombinant protein production, and aquatic ecotoxicity testing, but practical use has largely relied on mature plants or fronds. Due to the lack of effective methods to increase the germination rate of dormant turions, it has been difficult to reliably secure specimens when needed throughout the year.

This technology allows dormant turions to be stored under refrigeration and awakened with a single heat stimulus, ensuring high germination rates even for turions with short shelf lives. It can be applied to testing facilities that store turions as bio-ware or in large-scale duckweed cultivation facilities, allowing turions to be introduced into testing or production processes immediately upon removal from storage.

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Key Features:

• A step of inducing germination by heat-treating dormant turions isolated from duckweed at a temperature of 60–70°C
• A step of incubating the heat-stimulated turions in Steinberg or Hoagland medium at 15–35°C for 2–4 days under light exposure
• A step of storing the turions under dark conditions at 0–25°C for less than 2 months prior to heat treatment
• A step of storing the isolated turions by maintaining the pre-heat treatment storage temperature at 0–5°C under refrigerated conditions

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This invention was developed through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's project for the development of standard technologies for aquatic ecological risk bio-diagnosis and support for international certification.

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