Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-02T19:15:08.842Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Desiccation tolerance in two species with recalcitrant seeds: Clausena lansium (Lour.) and Litchi chinensis (Sonn.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

J. R. Fu*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Zhongzhan University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
J. P. Jin
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Zhongzhan University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
Y. F. Peng
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Zhongzhan University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
Q. H. Xia
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Zhongzhan University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
*
* Correspondence

Abstract

Seeds were collected at weekly intervals from mid-maturation to the fully ripened stage. As seed development progressed, desiccation tolerance increased. Desiccation tolerance of C. lansium seeds was greatest at 67 days after anthesis (DAA), when they tolerated air drying for 9 days; 74 DAA was considered as physiological maturity, and their full viability was only maintained for up to 3 days of drying; overripened seeds (88 DAA) had the lowest desiccation tolerance. In L. chinensis, the desiccation sensitivity of seeds at 98 DAA (fully mature) was higher than that at 84 and 91 DAA (less mature); among the excised embryonic axes at different developmental stages, the less mature ones were less sensitive to desiccation than the fully mature ones; excised embryonic axes of the same stage were more tolerant of desiccation than whole seeds.

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 Seed Station of Guangdong Province, 135 East Xian-Lie Road, Guangzhou 510500, People's Republic of China.

References

Bajaj, Y.P.S. (1985) Cryopreservation of embryos. pp 228242 in Kartha, K.K. (Ed.) Cryopreservation of plant cells and organs. Florida, CRC Press.Google Scholar
Berjak, P., Dini, M. and Pammenter, N.W. (1984) Possible mechanisms underlying the differing dehydration responses in recalcitrant and orthodox seed: desiccation-associated subcellular changes in propagules of Avicennia marina. Seed Science and Technology 12, 365384.Google Scholar
Berjak, P., Farrant, J.M. and Pammenter, N.W. (1989) The basis of recalcitrant seed behaviour. pp 89108 in Taylorson, P.B. (Ed.) Recent advances in the development and germination of seeds. New York, Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berjak, P., Pammenter, N.W. and Vertucci, C. (1992) Homoiohydrous (recalcitrant) seeds: developmental status, desiccation sensitivity and the state of water in axes of Landolphia kirkii Dyer. Planta 186, 249261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chin, H.F. (1988) Recalcitrant seeds: a status report. pp 318. Rome, IBPGR.Google Scholar
Chin, H.F., Krishnapillary, B. and Stanwood, P.C. (1989) Seed moisture: recalcitrant vs. orthodox seed. pp 1522 in Stanwood, P.C. and McDonald, M.B. (Eds) Seed moisture. Madison, WI, Crop Science Society of America.Google Scholar
Fu, J.R., Zhang, B.Z., Wang, X.F. and Qiao, Y.Z. (1989a) Desiccation and storage studies on four recalcitrant seeds. Abstracts of papers, no. 9, in 22nd International Seed Testing Congress. Edinburgh. Zurich, ISTA Secretariat.Google Scholar
Fu, J.R., Zhang, B.Z., Wang, X.F., Qiao, Y.Z. and Huang, X.L. (1989b) Studies on desiccation and wet storage of four recalcitrant seeds. pp 121125 in International Symposium on Horticultural Germplasm of Cultivated and Wild. Part 1. Fruit trees. Beijing. International Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Fu, J.R., Zhang, B.Z., Wang, X.F., Qiao, Y.Z. and Huang, X.L. (1990) Physiological studies in desiccation, wet storage and cryopreservation of recalcitrant seeds of three fruit species and their excised embryonic axes. Seed Science and Technology 18, 743754.Google Scholar
Fu, J.R., Xia, Q.H. and Tang, L.F. (1993) Effects of desiccation on excised embryonic axes of three recalcitrant seeds and studies on cryopreservation. Seed Science and Technology 21, 8595.Google Scholar
Hanson, J. (1984) The storage of seeds of tropical tree fruits. pp 5362 in Holden, J.H.W. and William, J.T. (Eds) Crop genetic resources: conservation and evaluation. London, George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Hofmann, P. and Steiner, A.M. (1989) An updated list of recalcitrant seeds. Landwirtschaftliche Forschung 42, 310323.Google Scholar
Pritchard, H.W. and Prendergast, F.G. (1986) Effects of desiccation and cryopreservation on the in vitro viability of embryos of the recalcitrant seed species Araucaria hunsteinii K. Schum. Journal of Experimental Botany 182, 13881397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ray, P.K. and Sharma, S.B. (1985) Viability of Litchi chinensis seeds when stored in air and in water. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 104, 247248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, E.H. (1973) Predicting the storage life of seeds. Seed Science and Technology 1, 499514.Google Scholar
Roberts, E.H., King, M.W. and Ellis, R.H. (1984) Recalcitrant seeds: their recognition and storage. pp 3852 in Holden, J.H.W. and Williams, J.T. (Eds) Crop genetic resources: conservation and evaluation. London, George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Wang, X.F. (1991) Studies on recalcitrance and storage of mango (Mangifera indica) seeds. PhD Thesis, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou.Google Scholar
Xia, Q.H., Chen, R.Z. and Fu, J.R. (1990) Physiological changes of lychee (Litchi chinensis) seeds before 10 days of maturity. Plant Physiology Communications 3, 3738.Google Scholar
Xia, Q.H., Chen, R.Z. and Fu, J.R. (1993) Studies on physiology of lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) seed in different developmental stages. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni 32, 8086.Google Scholar