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Is ‘NO’ news good news? Nitrogen oxides are not components of smoke that elicits germination in two smoke-stimulated species, Nicotiana attenuata and Emmenanthe penduliflora

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2007

Catherine A. Preston ,
Romy Becker  and
Ian T. Baldwin
Catherine A. Preston*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Strasse 8, Jena, 07745, Germany State University of New York at Buffalo, Department of Biological Sciences, 109 Cooke Hall/ North Campus, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA
Romy Becker
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Strasse 8, Jena, 07745, Germany
Ian T. Baldwin*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Strasse 8, Jena, 07745, Germany State University of New York at Buffalo, Department of Biological Sciences, 109 Cooke Hall/ North Campus, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA
*
†Current address: USDA-ARS CMAVE, 1600 SW 23rd Drive, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
*Correspondence Fax: +49 03641 571102 Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Both the California chaparral species, Emmenanthe penduliflora Benth. (Hydrophyllaceae), and a tobacco native to the Great Basin Desert of south-western Utah, Nicotiana attenuata Torr. ex Wats. (Solanaceae), germinate in response to component(s) of wood smoke. Nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2), in amounts produced by a fire, have been proposed to be germination signals for E. penduliflora. We examined the germination response of dormant seeds of E. penduliflora and N. attenuata to aqueous solutions of smoke adjusted to different pHs, and two NO donors [sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP)]. The smoke solutions, at pH 4 or 5, induced the maximum germination response. Aqueous solutions of SNP and SNAP, releasing NOx as high as 42 μM, had no effect on germination. Additionally, NO2– could not be detected in aqueous smoke extracts derived from combusted cellulose or wood. Therefore, unidentified cellulose combustion factors, rather than NOx, are likely to be the ecologically relevant germination signals.

Keywords

Emmenanthe pendulifloraNicotiana attenuatanitratenitritenitrogen oxidessmoke-induced germination
Type
Research Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 2004 , pp. 73 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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