Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T17:37:57.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Post-dispersal embryo growth and acquisition of desiccation tolerance in Anemone nemorosa L. seeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2007

Natasha Ali ,
Robin Probert ,
Fiona Hay ,
Hannah Davies  and
Wolfgang Stuppy
Natasha Ali*
Affiliation:
Seed Conservation Department, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK
Robin Probert
Affiliation:
Seed Conservation Department, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK
Fiona Hay
Affiliation:
Seed Conservation Department, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK
Hannah Davies
Affiliation:
Seed Conservation Department, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK
Wolfgang Stuppy
Affiliation:
Seed Conservation Department, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK
*
*Correspondence Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A UK seed conservation collection of Anemone nemorosa L. seeds held at the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) showed low viability in its first post-storage test. Because achenes of A. nemorosa are naturally dispersed when they are green, we tested the hypothesis that seeds may not be fully desiccation tolerant and storable at the time of natural dispersal, and that a post-harvest treatment could increase the proportion of desiccation-tolerant seeds. Achenes harvested at the point of natural dispersal in late May in 2003 and 2004 were either placed immediately on 1% water agar at 20°C (‘laboratory’ treatment), or placed in nylon sachets and buried in leaf litter among plants growing in the wild (‘field’ treatment). Samples were withdrawn at intervals over a period of 168 d and tested for desiccation tolerance (drying to 0.059 g H2O (g DW)− 1) and longevity (controlled ageing at 60% relative humidity and 45°C). An initial increase, followed by a decline, in the proportion of seeds surviving desiccation and in the longevity of both laboratory- and field-treated samples coincided with the development of embryos from globular to heart- and then torpedo-shaped. Developmental arrest was not required for the acquisition of desiccation tolerance, and continued growth and development of the embryo resulted in a loss of desiccation tolerance, similar to that seen in orthodox seeds upon radicle emergence. Furthermore, while A. nemorosa seeds, like many from the Ranunculaceae family, might be described as having morphological or morphophysiological dormancy, this lack of developmental arrest does not fit with the usual concept of dormancy. The implications of these results for the classification systems of seed-storage behaviour and dormancy, and for the long-term conservation of seeds of A. nemorosa, are discussed.

Keywords

Anemone nemorosadesiccation tolerancedormancy classificationembryo growthRanunculaceaeseed maturation
Type
Research Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , September 2007 , pp. 155 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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

Baskin, C.C.andBaskin, J.M. (1998) Seeds: Ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. San Diego, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Baskin, C.C., Meyer, S.E.andBaskin, J.M. (1995) Two types of morphophysiological dormancy in seeds of two genera (Osmorhiza and Erythronium) with an Arcto-Tertiary distribution pattern. American Journal of Botany 82, 293–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, J.M.andBaskin, C.C. (2003) Classification, biogeography, and phylogenetic relationships of seed dormancy. pp. 517–544in Smith, R.D.; Dickie, J.B.; Linington, S.H.; Pritchard, H.W.; Probert, R.J. (Eds) Seed conservation: Turning science into practice. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Google Scholar
Berjak, P.andPammenter, N.W. (2001) Seed recalcitrance – current perspectives. South African Journal of Botany 67, 79–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berjak, P., Farrant, J.M.andPammenter, N.W. (1989) The basis of recalcitrant seed behaviour. pp. 89–108in Taylorson, R.B. (Ed.) Recent advances in the development and germination of seeds. New York, Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bewley, J.D.andBlack, M. (1994) Seeds. Physiology of development and germination (2nd edition). New York, Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, A.E. (2006) Thermal methods and comparative seed longevity in the genus Ranunculus L. PhD thesis, Birkbeck College, University of London.Google Scholar
Davies, H.andProbert, R. (2004) Protocol for comparative seed longevity testing. www.kew.org/msbp/scitech/publications/comparative_longevity.pdf (accessed 10 July 2007).Google Scholar
Daws, M.I., Cleland, H., Chmielarz, P., Gorian, F., Leprince, O., Mullins, C.E., Thanos, C.A., Vandvik, V.andPritchard, H.W. (2006) Variable desiccation tolerance in Acer pseudoplatanus seeds in relation to developmental conditions: a case of phenotypic recalcitrance? Functional Plant Biology 33, 59–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engell, K. (1995) Embryo morphology of the Ranunculaceae. Plant Systematics and Evolution (Suppl. 9), 207–216.Google Scholar
Eriksson, O. (1995) Seedling recruitment in deciduous forest herbs: the effects of litter, soil chemistry and seed bank. Flora 190, 65–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrant, J.M., Pammenter, N.W., Berjak, P.andWalters, C. (1997) Subcellular organization and metabolic activity during the development of seeds that attain different levels of desiccation tolerance. Seed Science Research 7, 135–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grime, J.P., Mason, G., Curtis, A.V., Rodman, J., Band, S.R., Mowforth, M.A.G., Neal, A.M.andShaw, S. (1981) A comparative study of germination characteristics in a local flora. Journal of Ecology 69, 1017–1059.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grime, J.P., Hodgson, J.G.andHunt, R. (1988) Comparative plant ecology: A functional approach to common British species. London, Unwin Hyman.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, F.R.andProbert, 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
Hay, F.R.andSmith, R.D. (2003) Seed maturity: when to collect seeds from wild plants. pp. 97–133in Smith, R.D.; Dickie, J.B.; Linington, S.H.; Pritchard, H.W.; Probert, R.J. (Eds) Seed conservation: Turning science into practice. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Google Scholar
Hay, F., Klin, J.andProbert, R. (2006) Can a post-harvest ripening treatment extend the longevity of Rhododendron L. seeds? Scientia Horticulturae 111, 80–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holderegger, R. (1996) Effects of litter removal on the germination of Anemone nemorosa L. Flora 191, 175–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holderegger, R., Stehlik, I.andSchellner, J.J. (1998) Estimation of the relative importance of sexual and vegetative reproduction in the clonal woodland herb Anemone nemorosa. Oecologia 117, 105–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
ISTA (International Seed Testing Association) (1985) International rules for seed testing. Rules 1985. Seed Science and Technology 13, 356–513.Google Scholar
Martin, A.C. (1946) The comparative internal morphology of seeds. American Midland Naturalist 36, 513–660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, E.H. (1973) Predicting the storage life of seeds. Seed Science and Technology 1, 499–514.Google Scholar
Shirreffs, D.A. (1985) Anemone nemorosa L. Journal of Ecology 73, 1005–1020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stehlik, I.andHolderegger, R. (2000) Spatial genetic structure and clonal diversity of Anemone nemorosa in late successional deciduous woodlands of Central Europe. Journal of Ecology 88, 424–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, P.F. (2005) Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, Version 6, May 2005.http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb (accessed 10 July 2007).Google Scholar
Vertucci, C.W.andFarrant, J.M. (1995) Acquisition and loss of desiccation tolerance. pp. 237–271in Kigel, J.; Galili, G. (Eds) Seed development and germination. New York, Marcel Dekker.Google Scholar