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Physical properties of water in Zizania embryos in relation to maturity status, water content and temperature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

C. W. Vertucci ,
J. Crane ,
R. A. Porter  and
E. A. Oelke
C. W. Vertucci*
Affiliation:
USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Seed Storage Laboratory, 1111 S Mason St., Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
J. Crane
Affiliation:
USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Seed Storage Laboratory, 1111 S Mason St., Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
R. A. Porter
Affiliation:
North Central Experiment Station, University of Minnesota, 1861 Highway169 East, Grand Rapids, MN 5574-3396, USA
E. A. Oelke
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, Borlaug Hall, 1991 Buford Circle, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
*
* Correspondence
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Abstract

Changes in the properties of water in excised embryos were measured during the late stages of grain development in two cultivars of Zizania palustris and a population of the endangered species Z. texana. The relationships between water content and water activity were determined from water sorption isotherms, measured at temperatures between 35 and 5°C and then derived for lower temperatures. The freezing and melting behaviour of water in embryos at different water contents was determined using differential scanning calorimetry. The moisture content of embryos at high water activities decreased with maturation, as did the moisture content at which freezing transitions were not observed. While the temperatures of freezing and melting transitions decreased as the moisture content of embryos decreased, there were no discernible differences among embryos at different developmental stages. The properties of water measured in maturing Zizania embryos approached those for orthodox seeds as determined from the strength of water sorption, the enthalpy of the melting transition and the moisture content at which water is unfreezable. From these data we conclude that the properties of water in recalcitrant Zizania embryos change with development to resemble those of embryos of desiccation-tolerant seeds, but that the seeds never achieve the orthodox condition. The effects of interactions between moisture content and temperature on desiccation damage, freezing damage and germination in Zizania are predicted, based on the physical properties of water reported here and the correspondence of these properties with physiological function reported for other species. The resulting ‘phase diagram’ defines possible combinations of moisture content and temperature for storage under equilibrium conditions.

Keywords

Zizaniaseedembryorecalcitranceorthodoxdesiccation tolerancedesiccation damagefreezing damagewater sorption isothermsbound wateraqueous glassvitrificationseed storageseed development
Type
Short Communication
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , June 1994 , pp. 211 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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