Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T00:27:06.932Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of the initial rate of drying on the subsequent ability of immature seeds of Norway maple (Acer platanoides L.) to survive rapid desiccation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

T. D. Hong  and
R. H. Ellis
T. D. Hong
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 236, Reading RG6 6AT, UK
R. H. Ellis*
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 236, Reading RG6 6AT, UK
*
*Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The viability of Norway maple seeds harvested at mass maturity (57.3% moisture content) was reduced from 100% to only 38% if dried rapidly (at 15% RH and 15°C for 3 days) to 4.7% moisture content. In contrast, slow drying for 32 days (the optimum duration of several investigated) to 29.9% moisture content enabled 93% of the seeds to survive subsequent rapid desiccation to 3.5% moisture content. This is similar to the 95% viability shown by seeds harvested 40 days after mass maturity and then dried rapidly to 4.4% moisture content. However, fruits or seeds harvested at mass maturity and then held moist for 21 days also showed 94 and 91% viability after subsequent rapid desiccation to 3.8 and 3.3% moisture content, respectively. Thus a post-ovule-abscission programme is required before Norway maple seeds are able to tolerate rapid enforced desiccation to low moisture contents, but loss in moisture during this period is not essential to the development of desiccation tolerance.

Keywords

Acer platanoidesdesiccation tolerancedrying ratematurityNorway maple
Type
Development
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 1997 , pp. 41 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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

Blackman, S.A., Obendorf, R.L. and Leopold, A.C. (1992). Maturation proteins and sugars in desiccation tolerance of developing soybean seeds. Plant Physiology 100, 225–230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dasgupta, J., Bewley, J.D. and Yeung, E.C. (1982) Desiccation-tolerant and desiccation-intolerant stages during the development and germination of Phaseolus vulgaris seeds. Journal of Experimental Botany 33, 1045–1057.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H. and Hong, T.D. (1994) Desiccation tolerance and potential longevity of developing seeds of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Annals of Botany 73, 501–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H. and Pieta Filho, C. (1992) The development of seed quality in spring and winter cultivars of barley and wheat. Seed Science Research 2, 9–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H., Demir, I. and Pieta Filho, C. (1993) Changes in seed quality during seed development in contrasting crops. pp 897–904in Côme, D. and Corbineau, F. (Eds) Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Seeds. Basic and applied aspects of seed biology, Volume 3. Angers, France 20–24 July, 1992.Paris,ASFIS.Google Scholar
Fischer, W., Bergfeld, R., Plachy, C., Schäfer, R. and Schopfer, P. (1988) Accumulation of storage materials, precocious germination, and development of desiccation tolerance during seed maturation in mustard (Sinapsis alba L.). Botanica Acta 101, 344–354.Google Scholar
Galau, G.A., Jakobsen, K.S. and Hughes, D.W. (1991) The controls of late dicot embryogenesis and early germination. Physiologia Plantarum 81, 280–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, F.R. and Probert, R.J. (1995) Seed maturity and the effects of different drying conditions on desiccation tolerance and seed longevity in foxglove (Digitalis purpurea L.). Annals of Botany 76, 639–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong, T.D. and Ellis, R.H. (1990) A comparison of maturation drying, germination, and desiccation tolerance between developing seeds of Acer pseudoplatanus L. and Acer platanoides L. New Phytologist 116, 589–596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong, T.D. and Ellis, R.H. (1992) Development of desiccation tolerance in Norway maple (Acer platanoides L.) seeds during maturation drying. Seed Science Research 2, 169–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ISTA (1993a) International rules for seed testing. Rules 1993. Seed Science and Technology 21, Supplement, 1–75.Google Scholar
ISTA (1993b) International rules for seed testing. Annexes 1993. Seed Science and Technology 21, Supplement, 79–287.Google Scholar
Kermode, A.R. and Bewley, J.D. (1985) The role of maturation drying in the transition from seed development to germination. I. Acquisition of desiccation-tolerance and germinability during development of Ricinus communis L. Journal of Experimental Botany 36, 1906–1915.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanhewe, A.J. and Ellis, R.H. (1996) Seed development and maturation in Phaseolus vulgaris. I. Ability to germinate and to tolerate desiccation. Journal of Experimental Botany 47, 949–958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TeKrony, D.M. and Egli, D.B. (1997) Accumulation of seed vigour during development and maturation. in Ellis, R.H., Black, M., Murdoch, A.J., and Hong, T.D. (Eds) Basic and applied aspects of seed biology: Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Seeds, Reading, 1995.Dordrecht,Kluwer Academic Publishers (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar