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Development and Growth Regulation

Seed Dormancy in Red Rice ^1,2

VIII. Embryo Acidification during Dormancy-Breaking and Subsequent Germination

Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803

Exposure of dehulled, dormant red rice (Oryza sativa) seeds to dormancy-breaking treatments (10 mM sodium nitrite, 20 mM propionic acid, 30 mM methyl propionate, 40 mM propionaldehyde, or 70 mMn-propanol) induced tissue pH acidification during chemical contact at least 12 h before visible germination. During chemical contact, the onset of embryo acidification occurred before or coincident with the chemical contact interval necessary for subsequent germination. Upon seed transfer to H₂O following chemical contact, embryo pH also decreased coincident with visible germination. During this period, the percentage of germination and embryo pH were closely linked irrespective of the dormancy-breaking compound used. Therefore, tissue acidification during the breaking of seed dormancy and the germination process may be analogous to similar tissue pH changes associated with the termination of developmental arrest in other multicellular systems, such as brine shrimp cysts and nematode larvae.

² This work is part of the doctoral research of S.F., supported by a graduate assistantship from the Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology and the American Seed Research Foundation.

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