AGING AND OSMOTIC PRIMING IN WHEAT SEEDS - EFFECTS UPON CERTAIN COMPONENTS OF SEED QUALITY

Deteriorated wheat seed lots were osmotically primed and surface-dried, dried-back, then aged for two more weeks Osmotic priming did not affect the final germination in any of the aged seed lots, but mean germination time was decreased The response of unaged seed lot to treatments was studied in the following the time courses of germination, as well as L-[4, 5-2H]leucine and [6-3H]thymidine incorporation (as a measure of protein and DNA synthesis, respectively) into dissected embryos during the early hours of germination It was found that the variation in mean germination time and the rate of synthetic reactions were related The greatest improvement in the components of seed lot quality was achieved after priming and surface drying The beneficial effects of priming were apparent even after dehydration followed by two further weeks of ageing Cumulative correlations between mean germination time and various biochemical tests in variously treated aged seed lots were highly significant The physiological processes involved in deterioration and recovery and the potential application of biochemical tests in detecting vigour changes are discussed © 1990 Annals of Botany Company.