Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qlrfm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T11:43:17.807Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Differential effects of temperature on ultrastructural responses to dehydration in seeds of Zizania palustris

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

P. Berjak*
Affiliation:
Plant Cell Biology Research Unit, Department of Biology, University of Natal, King George V Ave, Durban, 4001South Africa
K. J. Bradford
Affiliation:
Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8631, USA
D. A. Kovach
Affiliation:
Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8631, USA
N. W. Pammenter
Affiliation:
Plant Cell Biology Research Unit, Department of Biology, University of Natal, King George V Ave, Durban, 4001South Africa
*
* Correspondence

Abstract

The desiccation tolerance of Zizania palustris seeds has been debatable, but recently it has emerged that survival to low moisture contents is a function of the temperature during dehydration. Survival of dehydration is greatest at 25–30°C and viability declines as the dehydration temperature is reduced. On the other hand, extended hydrated chilling (stratification) is required to break dormancy. The present contribution examines the ultrastructural condition of embryonic axes of Zizania palustris after dehydration at various temperatures, and following reimbibition and stratification. Axis cells sustained least damage when dehydration was carried out at 25°C and ultrastructural deterioration was more severe with lower temperatures during water loss. Damage sustained as a result of unfavourably low dehydration temperatures was visible when seeds were fixed from the dry state and was generally exacerbated during fully imbibed stratification. However, 25°C represented the optimum dehydration temperature; seeds that had been dried at 30°C also showed considerable ultrastructural disturbance when fixed from the dry state. This was largely reversed during fully imbibed stratification, although signs of the damage that had been sustained still persisted. These observations are in keeping with the germination behaviour of Z. palustris seeds dehydrated at temperatures above and below 25°C. The results are discussed in terms of the predominance of one of two mechanisms of membrane deterioration, depending on the dehydration temperature, which are probably not mutually exclusive. It is hypothesized that, at temperatures above 25°C, damage by free-radical-mediated events may predominate, whereas, at temperatures below the optimum, irreversible lipid-phase transitions may be the major factor resulting in membrane damage.

Type
Short Communication
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.)

Footnotes

Present address: North Central Region Plant Introduction Station, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA.

References

Aiken, S.G., Lee, P.F., Punter, D. and Stewart, J.M. (1988) Wild rice in Canada. Toronto, NC Press.Google Scholar
Berjak, P., Farrant, J.M. and Pammenter, N.W. (1989) The basis of recalcitrant seed behaviour. Cell biology of the homoiohydrous seed condition. pp 89108 in Taylorson, R.B. (Ed.) Recent advances in the development and germination of seeds. New York, Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berjak, P., Farrant, J.M., Mycock, D.J. and Pammenter, N.W. (1990) Recalcitrant (homoiohydrous) seeds: the enigma of their desiccation tolerance. Seed Science and Technology 18, 297310.Google Scholar
Berjak, P., Pammenter, N.W. and Vertucci, C.W. (1992) Homoiohydrous (recalcitrant) seeds: developmental status, desiccation sensitivity and the state of water in axes of Landolphia kirkii Dyer. Planta 186, 249261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradford, K.J. and Chandler, P.M. (1992) Expression of dehydrin-like proteins in embryos and seedlings of Zizania palustris and Oryza sativa during dehydration. Plant Physiology 99, 488494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crowe, J.H., Hoekstra, F.A. and Crowe, L.M. (1989) Membrane phase transitions are responsible for imbibitional damage in dry pollen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 86, 520523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crowe, J.H., Hoekstra, F.A. and Crowe, L.M. (1992) Anhydrobiosis. Annual Review of Physiology 54, 579599.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, R.H., Hong, T.D. and Roberts, E.H. (1990) An intermediate category of seed behaviour? 1. Coffee. Journal of Experimental Botany 41, 11671174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H., Hong, T.D., Roberts, E.H. and Soetisna, U. (1991) Seed storage behaviour in Elaeis guineensis. Seed Science Research, 1, 99104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrant, J.M., Pammenter, N.W. and Berjak, P. (1988) Recalcitrance-a current assessment. Seed Science and Technology 16, 155166.Google Scholar
Finch-Savage, W.E., Grange, R.I., Hendry, G.A.F. and Atherton, N.M. (1993) Embryo water status and loss of viability in the recalcitrant species Quercus robur L. pp 723730 in Côme, D. and Corbineau, F. (Eds) Fourth international workshop on seeds: basic and applied aspects of seed biology. Paris ASFIS.Google Scholar
Harrington, J.F. (1972) Seed storage and longevity. pp 145245 in Kozlowski, T.T. (Ed.) Seed biology vol. 3. New York, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hendry, G.A.F. (1993) Oxygen, free radical processes and seed longevity. Seed Science Research 3, 141153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendry, G.A.F., Finch-Savage, W.E., Thorpe, P.C., Atherton, N.M., Buckland, S.M., Nilsson, K.A. and Seel, W.E. (1992) Free radical processes and loss of seed viability during desiccation in the recalcitrant species Quercus robur L. New Phytologist 122, 273279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoekstra, F.A., Crowe, J.H. and Crowe, L.M. (1989) Membrane behavior in drought and its physiological significance. pp 7188 in Taylorson, R.B. (Ed.) Recent advances in the development and germination of seeds. New York, Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (1976) Report of IBPGR working group on engineering design and cost aspects of long-term seed storage facilities. Rome IBPGR.Google Scholar
Kovach, D.A. and Bradford, K.J. (1992) Imbibitional damage and desiccation tolerance of wild rice (Zizania palustris) seeds. Journal of Experimental Botany 43, 747757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, J.M. and Berjak, P. (1981) A unifying view of vacuolar ontogeny from studies on the root cap of Zea mays L. South African Journal of Science 77, 120125.Google Scholar
Leprince, O., Deltour, R., Thorpe, P.C., Atherton, N.M. and Hendry, G.A.F. (1990) The role of free radicals and radical processing systems in loss of desiccation tolerance in germinating maize (Zea mays L.). New Phytologist 116, 573580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKersie, B.D., Senaratna, T., Walker, M.A., Kendall, E.J. and Hetherington, R.P. (1988) Deterioration of membranes during aging in plants. pp 442464 in Noodén, L.D. and Leopold, A.C. (Eds) Senescence and aging in plants. San Diego, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Pammenter, N.W., Vertucci, C.W. and Berjak, P. (1991) Homeohydrous (recalcitrant) seeds: dehydration, the state of water and viability characteristics in Landolphia kirkii. Plant Physiology 96, 10931098.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pammenter, N.W., Vertucci, C.W. and Berjak, P. (1993) Responses to desiccation in relation to non-freezable water in desiccation-sensitive and -tolerant seeds. pp 867872 in Côme, D and Corbineau, F. (Eds) Fourth international workshop on seeds: basic and applied aspects of seed biology. Paris ASFIS.Google Scholar
Probert, R.J. and Brierley, E.R. (1989) Desiccation intolerance in seeds of Zizania palustris is not related to developmental age or the duration of post-harvest storage. Annals of Botany 64, 669674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Probert, R.J. and Longley, P.L. (1989) Recalcitrant seed storage physiology in three aquatic grasses (Zizania palustris, Spartina anglica and Porteresia coarctata). Annals of Botany 63, 5363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, E.H. (1973) Predicting the storage life of seeds. Seed Science and Technology 1, 499514.Google Scholar
Senaratna, T. and McKersie, B.D. (1986) Loss of desiccation tolerance during seed germination: a free radical mechanism of injury. pp 85101 in Leopold, A.C. (Ed.) Membranes, metabolism and dry organisms. Ithaca, Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Simon, E.W. (1978) Membranes in dry and imbibing seeds. pp 205224 in Crowe, J.H. and Clegg, J.S. (Eds) Dry biological systems New York, Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Still, D.W., Kovach, D.A. and Bradford, K.J. (1994) Development of desiccation tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa) and wild rice (Zizania palustris). Dehydrin expression, abscisic acid content, and sucrose accumulation. Plant Physiology 104, 431438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, D.O. and McDonald, M.B. (1986) The lipid peroxidation model of seed ageing. Seed Science and Technology 14, 269300.Google Scholar