Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T10:39:28.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Water relations of lettuce seed thermoinhibition. II. Ethylene and endosperm effects on base water potential

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

Sunil Dutta  and
Kent J. Bradford
Sunil Dutta
Affiliation:
Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8631, USA
Kent J. Bradford*
Affiliation:
Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8631, USA
*
* Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A water relations (hydrotime) model was employed to characterize the responses of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) seed germination to temperature, water potential (ψ), endosperm disruption, and the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC). The base water potentials (ψb), standard deviations of base water potential and hydrotime constants (θH) estimated by the model were used to predict the germination rates at reduced ψ and supraoptimal temperatures in the presence or absence of ACC. The distribution of ψb values among seeds in the population (ψb(g)) increased (became more positive) as the imbibition temperature increased, indicating a greater sensitivity of seeds to reduced ψ at thermoinhibitory temperatures. Slitting the seeds at the cotyledonary end to disrupt the integrity of the endosperm extended the high temperature range for germination and maintained lower ψb(g) distributions compared with intact seeds as temperature increased. ACC (10 mm) in the imbibition solution raised the upper temperature limit for germination by about 2°C, and also lowered ψb(g) values by 0.1 to 0.2 MPa. The effect of ACC on ψb(g) was more pronounced at higher imbibition temperatures and in slit seeds. ACC (via conversion to ethylene) extends the high temperature limit for lettuce seed germination by acting in the embryo to maintain a lower ψ threshold for the initiation of growth as temperature increases. Evidence from other species as well suggests that this may be a general mechanism for the action of ethylene in promoting seed germination.

Keywords

germinationhydrotimelettuceLactuca sativa L.seed dormancythermoinhibitionwater relations
Type
Research papers
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , March 1994 , pp. 11 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abeles, F.B. (1986) Role of ethylene in Lactuca sativa cv ‘Grand Rapids’ seed germination. Plant Physiology 81, 780–787.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradford, K.J. (1990) A water relations analysis of seed germination rates. Plant Physiology 94, 840–849.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradford, K.J. (1994) Water relations in seed germination. In press, in Kigel, J. and Galili, G., (Eds) Seed development and germination. New York, Marcel Dekker, Inc.Google Scholar
Bradford, K.J. and Somasco, O.A. (1994) Water relations of lettuce seed thermoinhibition. I. Priming and endosperm effects on base water potential. Seed Science Research 4, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burdett, A.N. (1972) Antagonistic effects of high and low temperature pretreatments on the germination and pregermination ethylene synthesis of lettuce seeds. Plant Physiology 50, 201–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corbineau, F., Rudnicki, R.M. and Côme, D. (1988) Induction of secondary dormancy in sunflower seeds by high temperature. Possible involvement of ethylene biosynthesis. Physiologia Plantarum 73, 368–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahal, P., Bradford, K.J. and Haigh, A.M. (1993) The concept of hydrothermal time in seed germination and priming. pp 1009–1014 in Côme, D. and Corbineau, F. (Eds) Basic and applied aspects of seed biology: Proceedings, Fourth International Workshop on Seeds. Paris, Association pour la Formation Professionelle de l'Interprofession Semences.Google Scholar
Dunlap, J.R. and Morgan, P.W. (1984) Reversal of induced dormancy in lettuce by ethylene, kinetin, and gibberellic acid. Plant Physiology 60, 222–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunlap, J.R., Scully, B.T. and Reyes, D.M. (1990) Seed coat-mediation of lettuce germination responses to heat and sodium chloride. Journal of the Rio Grande Valley Horticultural Society 43, 55–61.Google Scholar
Ellis, R.H., Covell, S., Roberts, E.H. and Summerfield, R.J. (1986) The influence of temperature on seed germination rate in grain legumes. II. Intraspecific variation in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) at constant temperatures. Journal of Experimental Botany 37, 1503–1515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Esashi, Y., Abe, Y., Ashino, H., Ishizawa, K. and Saitoh, K. (1989) Germination of cocklebur seed and growth of their axial and cotyledonary tissues in response to C2H4, CO2 and/or O2 under water stress. Plant, Cell and Environment 12, 183–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, H.J. and Taylor, A.G. (1989) Relationship between viability, endosperm integrity, and imbibed lettuce seed density and leakage. HortScience 24, 814–816.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, X.-L. and Khan, A.A. (1992) Alleviation of thermoinhibition in preconditioned lettuce seeds involves ethylene, not polyamine biosynthesis. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 117, 841–845.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kepczynski, J. (1986) Inhibition of Amaranthus caudatus seed germination by polyethylene glycol-6000 and abscisic acid and its reversal by ethephon or 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid. Physiologia Plantarum 67, 588–591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, A.A. (1992) Preplant physiological seed conditioning. Horticultural Reviews 14, 131–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, A.A. and Huang, X.L. (1988) Synergistic enhancement of ethylene production and germination with kinetin and 1-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylic acid in lettuce seeds exposed to salinity stress. Plant Physiology 87, 847–852.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, A.A. and Prusinski, J. (1989) Kinetin enhanced 1-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylic acid utilization during alleviation of high temperatures stress in lettuce seeds. Plant Physiology 91, 733–737.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Negm, F.B. and Smith, O.E. (1978) Effects of ethylene and carbon dioxide on the germination of osmotically inhibited lettuce seed. Plant Physiology 62, 473–476.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ni, B.R. and Bradford, K.J. (1992) Quantitative models characterizing seed germination responses to abscisic acid and osmoticum. Plant Physiology 98, 1057–1068.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ni, B.R. and Bradford, K.J. (1993) Germination and dormancy of abscisic acid- and gibberellin-deficient mutant tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) seeds. Sensitivity of germination to abscisic acid, gibberellin, and water potential. Plant Physiology 101, 607–617.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Odgebaro, O.A. and Smith, O.E. (1969) Effects of kinetin, salt concentration, and temperature on germination and early seedling growth of Lactuca sativa L. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 94, 167–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prusinski, J. and Khan, A.A. (1990) Relationship of ethylene production to stress alleviation in seeds of lettuce cultivars. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 115, 294–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rao, S.V., Sankhla, N. and Khan, A.A. (1975) Additive and synergistic effects of kinetin and ethrel on germination, thermodormancy, and polyribosome formation in lettuce seeds. Plant Physiology 56, 263–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saini, H.S., Consolacion, E.D., Bassi, P.K. and Spencer, M.S. (1986) Requirement for ethylene synthesis and action during relief of thermoinhibition of lettuce seed germination by combinations of gibberellic acid, kinetin, and CO2. Plant Physiology 81, 950–953.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saini, H.S., Consolacion, E.D., Bassi, P.K. and Spencer, M.S. (1989) Control processes in the induction and relief of thermoinhibition of lettuce seed germination. Plant Physiology 90, 311–315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schonbeck, M.W. and Egley, G.H. (1980) Effects of temperature, water potential, and light on germination responses of redroot pigweed seeds to ethylene. Plant Physiology 65, 1149–1154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schonbeck, M.W. and Egley, G.H. (1988) Effects of ethylene and some other environmental factors on different stages of germination in redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) seeds. Plant, Cell and Environment 11, 189–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Small, J.G.C., Shultz, C. and Cronje, E. (1993) Relief of thermoinhibition in Grand Rapids lettuce seeds by oxygen plus kinetin and their effects on respiration, content of ethanol and ATP and synthesis of ethylene. Seed Science Research 3, 129–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takeba, G. and Matsubara, S. (1979) Measurement of growth potential of the embryo in New York lettuce seed under various combinations of temperature, red light and hormones. Plant and Cell Physiology 20, 51–61.Google Scholar