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Metabolic Study of Douglas‐fir Pollen Germination in vitro
Author(s) -
MUREN ROGER C.,
CHING T. M.,
CHING KIM K.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1979.tb02623.x
Subject(s) - pollen , germination , mannitol , respiratory quotient , sugar , glycerol , respiration , metabolism , biochemistry , osmotic pressure , chemistry , amino acid , botany , starch , carbohydrate , biology
Douglas‐fir [ Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] pollen was germinated and grown in mass in a sterile mineral medium supplemented with 0.3 M mannitol as osmotic stabilizer. During the 4‐day period, pollen elongated threefold; free sugar and amino acid contents did not change significantly; soluble protein, insoluble protein, and RNA decreased; starch reduced to 30%; and DNA doubled in quantity. Respiration rate remained high and constant during the first 36 h and then increased, but the respiratory quotient averaged about 1.0 throughout the period. The pool size of adenine nucleotides remained constant, whereas ATP content and energy charge increased rapidly during the first 8 h and remained high for the remainder of the period. 14 C‐glucose was rapidly metabolized within 2 h at 25°C to amino acids (33%), organic acids (22%), sugars (20%), CO 2 (15%), lipids (5%), and insoluble components (3%). Experimental data indicated that the cultural conditions provided a suitable environment for rapid germination and active metabolism of Douglas‐fir pollen.