Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T08:35:43.688Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Role of the lens in controlling water uptake in seeds of two Fabaceae (Papilionoideae) species treated with sulphuric acid and hot water

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2009

Xiao Wen Hu ,
Yan Rong Wang ,
Yan Pei Wu  and
Carol C. Baskin
Xiao Wen Hu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-ecosystem, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730020, China
Yan Rong Wang*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-ecosystem, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730020, China
Yan Pei Wu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-ecosystem, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730020, China
Carol C. Baskin
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky40506-0225, USA Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky40546-0312, USA
*
*Correspondence Fax: 86-0931-8914043 Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although many studies have been conducted on seeds with a water-impermeable seed or fruit coat (physical dormancy), the primary site of water entry into these seeds after dormancy-breaking treatments is still controversial. Thus, the role of lens, hilum, micropyle and extrahilar regions in water uptake of seeds treated to break physical dormancy was examined in Vigna oblongifolia and Sesbania sesban (Fabaceae) following pretreatment with sulphuric acid and hot water. Morphology of seed surfaces in treated versus non-treated seeds of both species was examined with scanning electron microscopy. Most seeds of V. oblongifolia first cracked in the hilum when pretreated with sulphuric acid, but they cracked in both the hilum and extrahilar regions when pretreated with hot water. However, in S. sesban seeds, a crack formed only in the lens following either acid scarification or hot-water treatments, and the seeds imbibed water only through the lens. These results indicate that the primary site of water entry into seeds following physical dormancy break can vary with species and treatments. Slow, early imbibition via the hilum, and subsequent rapid imbibition via the lens, may not be detected unless seeds are monitored for several days. Time allowed for imbibition studies may, at least in part, explain various interpretations about the role of the lens in physical dormancy reported in the literature.

Keywords

hilumimbibition timelensphysical dormancyseed dormancySesbania sesbanVigna oblongifoliawater uptake
Type
Research Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 73 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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. (2003) Breaking physical dormancy in seeds – focusing on the lens. New Phytologist 158, 229–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, C.C. and Baskin, J.M. (1998) Seeds: ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. San Diego, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Baskin, C.C. and Baskin, J.M. (2005) Seed dormancy in trees of climax tropical vegetation types. Tropical Ecology 46, 17–28.Google Scholar
Baskin, J.M., Baskin, C.C. and Li, X. (2000) Taxonomy, anatomy and evolution of physical dormancy in seeds. Plant Species Biology 15, 139–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burns, R.E. (1959) Effect of acid scarification on lupine seed impermeability. Plant Physiology 34, 107–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Das, B. and Saha, P.K. (2006) Ultrastructural dimorphism of micropyle determines differential germinability of Sesbania cannabina seeds. Seed Science and Technology 34, 363–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dell, B. (1980) Structure and function of the strophiolar plug in seeds of Albizia lophantha. American Journal of Botany 67, 556–563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egley, G.H. (1979) Seed coat impermeability and germination of showy crotalaria (Crotalaria spectabilis) seeds. Weed Science 27, 355–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graaff, J.L. and Van Staden, J. (1983) The effect of different chemical and physical treatments on seed coat structure and seed germination of Sesbania. Zeitschrift fur Pflanzenphysiologie 112, 221–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanna, P.J. (1984) Anatomical features of the seed coat of Acacia kempeana (Mueller) which relate to increased germination rate induced by heat treatment. New Phytologist 96, 23–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, X.W., Wang, Y.R., Wu, Y.P. and Baskin, C.C. (2008) Role of the lens in physical dormancy in seeds of Sophora alopecuroides L. (Fabaceae) from northwest China. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 59, 491–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kusekwa, M.L., Msafiri, D.N., Mwilawa, A.J., Ngowi, M.D., Kyamanywa, R.S. and Ulime, C.R. (1993) Evaluation of Sesbania species in semi-arid central Tanzania. pp. 1–7in Kategile, J.A.; Adoutan, S.B. (Eds) Collaborative research on sesbania in East and Southern Africa. Kenya, African Feed Research Network, International Livestock Center for Africa.Google Scholar
Ma, F., Cholewa, E., Mohamed, T., Peterson, C.A. and Gijzen, M. (2004) Cracks in the palisade cuticle of soybean seed coats correlate with their permeability to water. Annals of Botany 94, 213–228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manning, J.C. and Van Staden, J. (1987) The role of the lens in seed imbibition and seedling vigour of Sesbania punicea (Cav.) Benth. (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae). Annals of Botany 59, 705–713.Google Scholar
Miklas, P.N., Townsend, C.E. and Ladd, S.L. (1987) Seed coat anatomy and the scarification of cicer milkvetch seed. Crop Science 27, 766–772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, D.A., Auld, T.D., Rish, S., Porter, C. and McClay, K. (1992) Patterns of testa-imposed seed dormancy in native Australian legumes. Annals of Botany 70, 157–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, D.A., McClay, K., Porter, C. and Rish, S. (1998) The role of the lens in controlling heat-induced breakdown of testa-imposed dormancy in native Australian legumes. Annals of Botany 82, 35–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Serrato Valenti, G., Cornara, L., Ghisellini, P. and Ferrando, M. (1994) Testa structure and histochemistry related to water uptake in Leucaena leucocephala Lam. (De Wit). Annals of Botany 73, 531–537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Serrato Valenti, G., Vries, M.D. and Cornara, L. (1995) The hilar region in Leucaena leucocephala Lam. (De Wit) seed: structure, histochemistry and the role of the lens in germination. Annals of Botany 75, 569–574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, G.B. (2004) Effect of temperature and state of hydration on rate of imbibition in soft seeds of yellow serradella. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 55, 39–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, G.B. (2005) Hardseededness in Mediterranean annual pasture legumes in Australia: a review. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56, 645–661.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Y.R. and Hanson, J. (2008) An improved method for breaking dormancy in seeds of Sesbania sesban. Experimental Agriculture 44, 185–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Y.R., Hanson, J. and Mariam, Y.W. (2007) Effect of sulfuric acid pretreatment on breaking hard seed dormancy in diverse accessions of five wild Vigna species. Seed Science and Technology 35, 550–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeng, L.W., Cocks, P.S., Kailis, S.G. and Kuo, J. (2005) The role of fractures and lipids in the seed coat in the loss of hardseededness of six Mediterranean legume species. Journal of Agricultural Science 143, 43–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar