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STUDIES IN SEED DORMANCY
Author(s) -
BRADBEER J. W.,
COLMAN B.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1967.tb05981.x
Subject(s) - dormancy , sucrose , metabolism , germination , glutamate dehydrogenase , biology , biochemistry , cotyledon , enzyme , embryo , botany , glutamate receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , receptor
S ummary The dormancy of hazel seeds (Kent cob nuts) has been found to be broken by less than 30 days chilling at 5° C. During 50 days chilling there was no detectable growth of the embryonic axes although growth rapidly commenced when the temperature of 50‐day chilled seeds was raised to 20° C. Both cotyledon slices and embryonic axes from dormant seeds showed active metabolism of [2‐ 14 C] acetate, the operation of the following enzymes and enzyme systems being inferred: TCA cycle, glutamate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase and those involved in the syntheses of lipid, protein, sucrose, DNA and RNA. As no evidence has been found of the appearance of further metabolic pathways during chilling it is suggested that the block to the germination of dormant seeds may be in the partial blockage of a metabolic pathway. Quantitative changes in the distribution of [2‐ 14 C]acetate label, which occurred during chilling, have been interpreted as indicative of a fall in the lipid synthesizing ability of cotyledons and a rise in the aspartate, glutamate and protein synthesizing ability of the embryonic axes. The embryonic axes also appeared to develop increased TCA cycle activity and showed increased sucrose labelling. However, none of these changes appeared to occur at as early a stage of the chilling process as the change in nucleotide metabolism previously reported.