Lucerne (Medicago sativa), a major perennial pasture legume, belongs to a species complex that includes several subspecies with wild and cultivated populations. Stand establishment may be compromised by poor germination. Seed scarification, deterioration and temperature have an impact on germination. The objective of this study was to analyse the genetic diversity of lucerne germination in response to three factors: (1) temperature, with seven constant temperatures ranging from 5 to 40°C, was tested on 38 accessions, (2) seed scarification was tested on the same accessions at 5 and 22°C, (3) seed deterioration was tested on two accessions and two seed lots at the seven temperatures. The germination dynamics of seed lots over time was modelled and three parameters were analysed: germinability (germination capacity), maximum germination rate (maximum% of seeds germinating per time unit), and lag time before the first seed germinates. Seed scarification enhanced germinability at both temperatures and its effect was much higher on falcata and wild sativa accessions. Incomplete loss of the hardseededness trait during domestication and selection is hypothesised, indicating that the introduction of wild material in breeding programmes should be followed by the selection for germinability without scarification. Seed lots with altered germinability had low germination at extreme temperatures, both cold and hot, suggesting that mild temperatures are required to promote germination of damaged seed lots. A large genetic diversity was revealed for germination (both capacity and rate) in response to temperature. All accessions had an optimal germination at 15 or 22°C and a poor germination at 40°C. The sativa varieties and landraces had a high germination from 5 to 34°C while the germination of falcata and the wild sativa accessions were weakened at 5 or 34°C, respectively. These differences are interpreted in terms of adaptation to the climate of their geographical origin regions in order to escape frost or heat/drought risks. These new findings give insights on adaptation and domestication of lucerne in its wide geographic area. They suggest further improvement of germination is needed, especially when introducing wild material in breeding pools to remove scarification requirements and to limit differences in response to temperature.

琉森（紫花苜蓿）是多年生主要的牧草豆科植物，属于一个物种复合体，其中包括几个具有野生和栽培种群的亚种。不良的萌发可能会损害展位的建立。种子的松散，变质和温度都会对发芽产生影响。这项研究的目的是分析响应于三个因素的卢塞恩发芽的遗传多样性：（1）在38个种质上测试了温度范围为5至40°C的七个恒定温度，（2）测试了种子稀疏度在5和22°C的相同种质上，（3）在七个温度下对两个种质和两个种子批次进行了种子劣化测试。对种子批次随时间的萌发动态进行建模，并分析了三个参数：可发芽性（发芽能力），最大发芽率（每个时间单位最大发芽种子％），以及第一个种子发芽之前的滞后时间。在两个温度下，种子稀疏都能提高发芽能力，其效果要好得多。法尔卡塔 和野性 苜蓿加入。假设在驯化和选择过程中硬种子性状不完全丧失，这表明在育种程序中引入野生材料后，应选择可发芽性而不会造成稀疏的动物。具有可萌芽性改变的种子批次在极端温度下（冷热）均具有较低的发芽率，这表明需要适度的温度来促进受损种子批次的发芽。揭示了响应温度而发芽的大量遗传多样性（容量和速率）。所有种在15或22℃下具有最佳发芽，而在40℃下发芽较差。的苜蓿 品种和地方品种在5至34°C时具有较高的发芽率，而 法尔卡塔 和野外 苜蓿种质分别在5或34°C下减弱。这些差异是根据其地理来源地区的气候适应性来解释的，以便避免霜冻或高温/干旱的风险。这些新发现为卢塞恩在广阔地理区域的适应和驯化提供了见识。他们建议需要进一步改善发芽，特别是在繁殖池中引入野生材料以消除划痕要求并限制对温度的响应差异时。