外源一氧化氮供体浸种对玉米种子萌发和幼苗生长的影响

外源一氧化氮供体硝普钠浸种可以提高玉米种子的发芽率,浓度为10、100、1000、2000μmol·L-1时,促进幼苗地上部和根的伸长生长,且有利于玉米侧根发生,幼苗叶片中的硝酸还原酶的活性也提高.以100μmol·L-1的硝普钠处理的综合效果最好.     

外源一氧化氮供体对几种植物种子的萌发和幼苗生长的影响

以0、0.1、0.3、0.5、0.7、0.9mmol·L-1共6种浓度的外源一氧化氮(NO)供体硝普钠(SNP)处理豌豆、黄瓜、玉米和刺槐种子及其砂培幼苗后的结果表明:0.1～0.3mmol·L-1SNP对种子发芽势、发芽率及幼苗的根长、叶绿素含量和生物量有明显的促进作用;随着SNP浓度的增加,种子萌发和幼苗生长明显受抑制,不同植物受抑制程度的差异明显.     

γ-氨基丁酸浸种对番茄种子及幼苗耐盐性调节的生理机制

以番茄‘金棚一号’为材料,研究了外源γ-氨基丁酸(GABA)浸种处理对NaCl胁迫下种子萌发及幼苗生长和生理代谢的影响。结果显示:(1)NaCl胁迫显著抑制了番茄种子的萌发和胚根生长,同时导致番茄幼苗体内活性氧(O2.-、H2O2)大量积累,膜脂过氧化程度加重,幼苗叶片光合系统Ⅱ活性显著降低,幼苗的生长受到严重抑制。(2)外源GABA浸种能够显著提高盐胁迫下番茄种子的萌发和胚根的生长,并以10.00mmol.L-1 GABA浸种处理效果最好。(3)外源GABA浸种处理显著提高了NaCl胁迫下番茄幼苗根系和叶片抗氧化酶(SOD、POD和CAT)活性,降低了活性氧(O2.-、H2O2)的产生和膜脂过氧化程度,通过维持较高的光合系统Ⅱ活性,促进了幼苗的生长及生物量积累,但GABA的缓解效应存在较大的浓度差异,其中以10.00mmol.L-1 GABA处理效果较好。研究表明,10.00mmol.L-1 GABA浸种处理能够通过促进番茄种子萌发和幼苗生长来缓解盐胁迫的伤害。     

外源一氧化氮供体对渗透胁迫下小麦种子萌发和水解酶活性的影响

采用含水量测定和种子吸胀实验,发现一氧化氮(nitric oxide,NO)供体硝普钠(sodium nitroprusside,SNP)促进小麦种子在渗透胁迫下萌发的效应是通过提高种子的吸胀能力实现的;SNP还能明显诱导胁迫下种子淀粉酶同工酶Ⅰ活性的上升,加速淀粉胚乳的液化或溶解,而对酯酶影响不大.此外,在无胁迫条件下的小麦种子萌发早期(12 h),SNP处理可以显著诱导葡萄糖、果糖和蔗糖含量的上升;采用外源糖和SNP,结合NO清除剂处理小麦种子,观察到葡萄糖、果糖和蔗糖都参与萌发早期NO信号对小麦种子淀粉酶同工酶Ⅰ的激活.     

外源多胺对莴苣种子萌发诱导及其与一氧化氮的关系

以正常莴苣'挂丝红'(Lactuca sativa)种子为材料,采用外源多胺(Put、Spd、Spm)、硝普钠(SNP)及NO清除剂cPTIO处理,以DAQ作为NO荧光检测探针,研究多胺和NO在莴苣种子萌发过程中的相互关系.结果显示:(1)外源多胺尤其是亚精胺(Spd)对莴苣种子都有一定的促早萌作用并以0.5 mmol·L-1处理最佳,其效果在种子吸胀后前48 h最为显著;1.0 mmol·L-1亚精胺合酶抑制剂环己胺(CHA)对莴苣种子萌发有较强的抑制作用;(2)外源NO供体SNP对莴苣种子早萌有显著的促进作用并表现出浓度依赖性,且48 h后促进作用消失,与外源Spd促进种子早萌作用相似;(3)在外源Spd和SNP处理的同时,添加NO清除剂cPTIO可显著降低SNP和Spd对莴苣种子萌发的促进作用;在Spd和SNP处理后的种子近胚区均有较强的NO荧光产生,而cPTIO可猝灭Spd和SNP处理种子胚荧光的增强,并伴随着对Spd和SNP促进种子早萌作用的抑制.研究表明,多胺尤其是亚精胺在促进莴苣种子早萌过程中可能与NO的诱导产生有关.     

Effect of Different Temperatures on Germination and Seedling Growth of Primed Seeds of Tomato

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - In present work the effect of various temperatures on germination and seedling growth were determined, using primed seeds of hybrid variety of tomato...     

化学药剂对水稻种子萌发和幼苗生长的影响

以早丰 11号水稻种子为材料 ,用KNO3、KH2 PO4 、Na2 HPO4 等不同药液浸种 .结果显示 ,早丰 11号种子在适当浓度的KNO3、KH2 PO4 、Na2 HPO4 浸种后 ,发芽势、发芽率比对照有所提高 ,幼苗生长加快 ,表现在根长、发根数、苗高、鲜重比对照生长好 ,并且对水稻秧苗表现有抵抗低温的作用 .     

一氧化氮对盐胁迫下小麦幼苗根生长和氧化损伤的影响

0.05和0.10 mmol/L一氧化氮(NO)供体硝普钠(sodium mtropmsside,SNP)处理明显减轻NaCl浓度为150 mmo1/L左右的盐胁迫对小麦幼苗根生长的抑制效应,其中0.05mmol/L的SNP效果最明显;0.30mmol/L以上的SNP处理对根抑制无明显缓解作用;当NaCl浓度大于300 mmol/L时,各种浓度的SNP均不能减轻盐胁迫对根生长的抑制.以N O清除剂血红蛋白(hemoglobin,Hb)以及NOx-,K3Fe(CN)6等为对照,观察到0.05 mmol/L的SNP能不同程度地提高150mmo/L盐胁迫下小麦幼苗根尖细胞中超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化物酶(POD)和抗坏血酸过氧化物酶(ascorbateperoxidase,APX)活性,明显降低MDA、H2O2和O2-.的积累,阻断盐胁迫诱导的根尖细胞DNA片段化,表明NO能有效缓解盐胁迫引起的小麦幼苗根尖细胞的氧化损伤.     

Ca^2＋对小麦萌发及幼苗抗盐性的效应

以冬小麦（Triticum aestivum）临远077038为材料, 研究了施入外源Ca^2＋对150、200、250及350 mmol·L^-1NaCl胁迫下小麦种子萌发及幼苗生长发育的影响。结果表明： 20 mmol·L^-1CaCl2浸种能够提高小麦在150–250 mmol·L^-1盐胁迫下种子的发芽率, 并能增强其生长势; 当NaCl浓度为350 mmol·L^-1时, 小麦种子不能萌发, 且在以上浓度的NaCl胁迫下, 小麦种子均不能发育成苗。对NaCl胁迫下的小麦幼苗施入外源Ca^2＋后, 提高了幼苗膜稳定性, 降低了膜脂过氧化程度, 从而减轻了盐胁迫对幼苗膜的伤害, 表现为电导率降低、MDA含量降低及SOD和POD活性提高, 并且提高了幼苗的呼吸强度及叶绿素含量, 促进了幼苗生长及生物量的积累; Ca^2＋的缓解效应随着盐胁迫的加剧逐渐减弱, 在浓度为350 mmol·L^-1的盐胁迫下, 幼苗的生物量显著低于对照。以上结果表明, 与水处理相比, 20 mmol·L^-1CaCl2处理能够更大程度地促进小麦的生长发育。     

一氧化氮对渗透胁迫下小麦种子萌发及其活性氧代谢的影响

一氧化氮供体硝普钠(Sodium nitroprusside,SNP)能明显地促进渗透胁迫下小麦(Triticum aestivum L.)种子萌发、胚根和胚芽伸长,提高萌发过程中淀粉酶和内肽酶的活力,加速贮藏物质的降解：胁迫解除后,仍能使种子维持较高的活力。此外,SNP还能显著诱导渗透胁迫下CAT、APX活力的上升和脯氨酸含量积累,抑制LOX活力,从而提高渗透胁迫下小麦种子萌发过程中抗氧化能力。进一步研究还发现,SNP诱导切胚半粒小麦种子萌发早期(6h)的淀粉酶活力上升可能与GA3无直接关系。     

外源CO和NO对水稻种子萌发过程中干旱胁迫损伤的缓解效应

选用水稻品种‘Ⅱ优128’种子为材料,以1.0μmol.L-1高铁血红素(Hematin,H)和200μmol.L-1硝普钠(sodium nitroprusside,SNP)分别作为CO和NO供体,采用PEG-6000模拟干旱胁迫,研究外源CO和NO对干旱胁迫下水稻种子萌发和萌发过程中抗氧化能力的影响。结果表明:高铁血红素和硝普钠处理可以显著提高干旱胁迫下水稻种子的发芽率、芽长和根长;同时显著提高种子淀粉酶活性,显著增加其可溶性糖、可溶性蛋白和脯氨酸含量;还不同程度地诱导增强超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)和过氧化物酶(POD)的活性,同时降低质膜相对透性和丙二醛(MDA)含量。研究证实,外源CO和NO可通过调节渗透调节物质含量和保护酶活性来有效缓解干旱胁迫对萌发水稻种子造成的氧化伤害,促进种子萌发生长。     

壳聚糖包衣对油菜种子萌发和幼苗生长以及几个生理生化指标的影响

不同酸溶剂与不同分子量壳聚糖包衣均促进油菜种子萌发和幼苗生长。其中壳聚糖无机酸溶剂包衣种子发芽率及幼苗生化等指标优于有机酸溶剂 ;小分子量壳聚糖包衣优于大、中分子量的。壳聚糖包衣处理有促进植物生长之功能     

火焰兰的种子培养和试管育苗

1植物名称火焰兰(Renanthera CoCCinea). 2材料类别种子. 3培养条件种子萌发培养基:(1)VW;(2)VW 100 mL·L-1椰子乳;(3)KC;(4)KC 100 mL·L-1椰子乳(5)1/2MS;(6)MS.生根育苗培养基:(7)3 g·L-1花宝1号(美国Haponex公司产品,N:P:K=7:6:19) 2 g·L-1蛋白胨 2 g·L-1活性炭 0.5 mg·L-1NAA 0.2 mg·L-16-BA;(8)1 g·L-1花宝1号 1 g·L-1花宝2号(N:P:K=20:20:20) 2 g·L-1蛋白胨 2 g·L-1活性炭 0.5 mg·L-1NAA 0.2 mg·L-16-BA.以上培养基均附加1.5%蔗糖、0.6%琼脂,pH 5.2～5.4.培养温度为(25±2)℃,光照度1 500～2000lx,光照时间12 h·d-1.     

赤霉素和光对拟南芥种子萌发和幼苗生长的影响

以拟南芥的赤霉素 (GA)缺陷型突变体ga 1,ga 2 ,ga 3和GA不敏感型突变体ga i为材料 ,研究了光和 4种GA对拟南芥种子萌发和幼苗生长影响的相互关系。结果表明 :(1)烯效唑对ga i种子萌发的抑制在光下可明显被GA恢复 ,而在黑暗中GA的作用不明显。 (2 )在光下低浓度的外源GA3 可使ga 1,ga 2和ga 3的种子萌发 ,而在黑暗中同样浓度的GA3 则难以使种子萌发。 (3)光可以降低种子萌发所需求的GA的剂量。 (4 )ga i和ga 1的幼苗的呼吸代谢有明显差异。以上结果说明 :光对拟南芥种子萌发的促进主要是提高了种子对GA反应的敏感性而不是增加GA的生物合成     

Exogenous Hydrogen Sulfide Ameliorates Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Cauliflower Under Lead Stress and Its Antioxidant Role

Lead (Pb) is a widespread ecosystem pollutant and affects food security and public health. Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) plays prominent roles in mediating a variety of responses to stresses. The effects of sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS), a fast releaser of H₂S, on cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var botrytis L. cv. Xiahua 60 d) seed germination and seedling growth under lead acetate stress were investigated in the present study. Pb (0.25 and 0.5 mM) stresses markedly inhibited seed germination and seedling growth, whereas the inhibition was effectively mitigated by NaHS application. Germination percentage, root length, shoot length, and fresh weight of single seedling significantly increased. In addition, NaHS elevated endogenous H₂S contents and reduced malonyldialdehyde, superoxide anion (\({\text{O}}_{\text{2}}{\cdot}^ -\)), and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production, thereby preventing oxidative damage from Pb or Pb and antioxidant enzyme inhibitor (diethyldithiocarbamate or 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole) dual stresses. The protective roles of NaHS were equivalent to the ROS scavengers, 4,5-dihydroxy-1,3-benzene disulfonic acid? and N,N′-Dimethylthiourea. Moreover, NaHS elevated non-protein thiols and total glutathione levels to chelate Pb or scavenge ROS directly. Our results demonstrated the strong protective and antioxidant roles of H₂S.     

Abscisic Acid and Gibberellins Act Antagonistically to Mediate Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate-Retarded Seed Germination and Early Seedling Growth in Tomato

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Germination is a crucial event in plant lifecycle mediated by a complex hormonal crosstalk. In this study, we revealed an antagonistic interaction between...     

The Effect of Nitric Oxide on Bacteria

Nitric oxide, as well as several other oxides of nitrogen, were assayed for their antibacterial action. It is shown that nitric oxide has virtually no effect on bacteria, whereas both NaNO₃ and NaNO₂ appear to have either neutral or stimulatory effects. It is suggested that the formation of nitrous acid is mainly responsible for the quantitative as well as the qualitative changes that occur in the bacterial flora of cured meat. A pH-dependent “nitrite cycle” is presented to account for the production of nitrous acid in cured meat systems.     

Effect of Nitric Oxide on Anammox Bacteria

The effects of nitrogen oxides on anammox bacteria are not well known. Therefore, anammox bacteria were exposed to 3,500 ppm nitric oxide (NO) in the gas phase. The anammox bacteria were not inhibited by the high NO concentration but rather used it to oxidize additional ammonium to dinitrogen gas under conditions relevant to wastewater treatment.Nitric oxide (NO) has several different roles in bacteria, fungi, and mammals (24). In nitrogen cycle bacteria, it acts as an intermediate and cell communication/signal transduction molecule. On the other hand, NO is a highly reactive and toxic compound that contributes to ozone depletion and air pollution (5). Due to its reactive nature, many bacteria employ an arsenal of proteins (those encoded by norVW, as well as bacterial globins, heme proteins, etc.) that are used to detoxify NO to the less-reactive and more-stable nitrous oxide (N₂O) (24). Still, N₂O is a very effective greenhouse gas and an unfavorable constituent in the off-gases from nitrification/denitrification nitrogen removal systems (4). The presence of gene(s) encoding cytochrome cd₁ nitrite reductase (EMBL accession no. {"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"CAJ74898","term_id":"91201838","term_text":"CAJ74898"}}CAJ74898), flavorubredoxin NorVW (accession no. {"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"CAJ73918","term_id":"91200863","term_text":"CAJ73918"}}CAJ73918 and {"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"CAJ73688","term_id":"91200638","term_text":"CAJ73688"}}CAJ73688), and bacterial hemoglobin (accession no. {"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"CAJ72702","term_id":"91203063","term_text":"CAJ72702"}}CAJ72702) in the genome of Kuenenia stuttgartiensis led to the proposal that NO also plays this dual role (metabolic versus toxic) in anammox bacteria (Fig. ​(Fig.1)1) (10, 20). This has ramifications for both application and metabolism of anammox bacteria. The source of NO in an anammox reactor could be the activity of other community members (ammonium-oxidizing or denitrifying bacteria) or high concentrations of nitrite in the influent wastewater stream. Full-scale anammox reactors typically contain a significant population of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). In the single nitritation-anammox reactors, these carry out the conversion of 50% of the ammonium in the wastewater to nitrite (6). It has been shown that AOB may produce significant amounts of NO (2, 7), and recently it was reported that NO and N₂O could be emitted from these reactors up to 0.005 and 1.2% of the total nitrogen load to the reactor, respectively (6, 23). NO may inhibit the anammox bacteria and could also be further reduced to N₂O in these reactors (6, 23). It is presently unknown whether anammox bacteria contribute to the NO or N₂O emissions, although it has been suggested previously that anammox bacteria do not produce N₂O under physiologically relevant conditions (10). Nevertheless, if conversion of NO could be coupled to anaerobic ammonium oxidation, the toxic air pollutant NO would facilitate further removal of ammonium in full-scale anammox bioreactors. In the present study, we investigated the effect of very high NO fluxes on anammox bacteria.Open in a separate windowFIG. 1.The hypothetical anammox pathway with possible routes of NO removal. Solid black arrows: anammox pathway, including nitrite oxidation to nitrate; gray arrow, possible detoxification pathway to N₂O (not observed in the bioreactor); dashed gray arrow, NO oxidation to nitrite/nitrate (not possible under anoxic conditions).NO has been described many times as a potent inhibitor of nitrogen cycle bacteria; aerobic ammonium oxidizers, nitrite oxidizers, and denitrifiers were all inhibited by concentrations as low as a few micromolar units (1, 18, 24). In a previous study, it was suggested that “Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans” could tolerate up to 600 ppm NO (approximately 1 mg NO·day⁻¹ NO load) (16). In the reported experiments, without direct measurement of nitrous oxide (N₂O) in the effluent gas stream, it was postulated that NO was reduced to N₂O (16). In the present study, we used a carefully monitored sequencing batch reactor (SBR) to further our understanding of the effect and fate of NO in a laboratory-scale anammox reactor under conditions which are relevant in wastewater treatment plants.An SBR (working volume, 3.5 liters) consisting of approximately 80% of the anammox bacterium “Candidatus Brocadia fulgida” and no detectable aerobic ammonium oxidizers (determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) as described previously [15]) was used in the present study. Before the first introduction of NO into the reactor, the influent (synthetic wastewater) (21) was supplied to the reactor at a flow rate of 1.4 ml·min⁻¹ with nitrite and ammonium concentrations (assayed as previously described [9]) at 45 and 39 mM, respectively (corresponding to a total of 2,370 mg N·day⁻¹). All nitrite was consumed in the reactor, while 2 mM ammonium was still present in the effluent. For every 1 mol of ammonium, 1.22 mol of nitrite was consumed, similar to the previously determined anammox stoichiometry (19). NO was first introduced at a concentration of 400 to 600 ppm in the gas phase at a flow rate of 10 ml/min (CLD 700EL chemiluminescence NOx analyzer, detection limit of 0.1 ppm NO, with 15 ml/min Ar/CO₂ as the dilution gas [a load of 25 to 28 mg NO·day⁻¹]; EcoPhysics, Michigan). During this period, 45% (±6%) of the supplied NO was removed from the system. Initially, there was no detectable change in the ammonium and nitrite removal efficiencies and no detectable nitrous oxide (N₂O) in the flue gas (analyzed with an Agilent 6890 gas chromatograph). It is most likely that NO was converted to N₂, but the increase in the N₂ concentrations in the off-gas was below the detection limit (1,000 ppm).At day 49, the influent NO concentration was increased to 3,500 ppm (640 mg NO·day⁻¹ load). Simultaneously, the stirring speed of the reactor was increased from 200 to 600 rpm to enable better mass transfer to the flocculent anammox biomass. The increase in the stirring speed did not result in any disturbance in the floc size and settling ability of the biomass but did lead to a much higher level of NO removal (128 mg NO·day⁻¹) by the anammox bacteria. The converted NO could theoretically be converted to N₂O via detoxification enzymes or coupled to ammonium oxidation (Fig. ​(Fig.1).1). Surprisingly, there was no change in the nitrite removal capacity of the bioreactor, suggesting that NO was not a substrate preferred over nitrite. Nitrate concentrations (assayed according to the method in reference 9) were stable around 7.2 mM (±0.7 mM). Theoretically, as anammox bacteria reduce NO, they could oxidize a larger proportion of nitrite to nitrate (Fig. ​(Fig.1)1) to increase their capacity for CO₂ fixation; however, such an increase in nitrate production was not observed (or could not be discriminated by the method used [sensitivity, 100 μM]). During this phase of the experiment, the effluent ammonium concentration gradually decreased to below the detection limit (Fig. ​(Fig.2).2). There was only a minimal N₂O (0.6 ppm) emission from the system, and the total N₂ production increased from 3,060 to 3,680 mg N₂·day⁻¹. This indicated that NO reduction was coupled to the catabolism of the anammox bacteria rather than being detoxified by anammox or other community members. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time that such a high load of NO was not found to be toxic to the nitrogen cycle bacteria. In a previous study, an NO load of 1 mg NO·day⁻¹ was reported to be toxic to anammox bacteria, most probably due to the fact that the experiments were conducted with biomass that had a 100-fold lower cell density and 10-fold lower activity compared to the current enrichment cultures. Furthermore, the NO conversion in the current experiments was stoichiometrically coupled to ammonium oxidation and not converted to N₂O, indicating that the previously reported N₂O emissions from full-scale anammox bioreactors originated not with the anammox bacteria but rather with other community members as hypothesized previously (8).Open in a separate windowFIG. 2.Ammonium concentration in the effluent of the anammox bioreactor. Dashed lines indicate the trend of effluent ammonium concentration during different phases of the reactor operation. Black arrows indicate the manipulations to influent NO stream, and the gray arrow points to an increase in the influent ammonium concentration. d, day.To determine if there could be more NO-dependent ammonium removal, the influent ammonium concentration was first increased to 41 mM (day 80) and then to 43 mM (day 81). This resulted in a slow but gradual increase in the effluent ammonium concentration, and additional ammonium did not appear to be completely converted, most probably due to NO mass transfer limitations. As a result of the higher level of ammonium removal, the observed anammox stoichiometry in the reactor decreased from 1.22 to 0.91 (nitrite/ammonium). Between days 95 and 131, the NO supply to the reactor was turned off, which resulted in an average ammonium concentration of 3.3 mM (±0.9 mM) in the effluent. Following this period, on day 132, the NO load on the reactor was increased back to 640 mg NO·day⁻¹ (Fig. ​(Fig.2).2). As a result, the effluent ammonium concentration gradually decreased again to an average of 1.5 mM (±0.36 mM). The highest level of NO removal achieved in this period was 371 mg NO·day⁻¹. When the NO supply was turned off on day 165, ammonium concentrations increased back to 3.5 mM (±0.71 mM).During the course of the experiment, the biodiversity of the reactor was monitored using FISH and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis as described previously (15) with probes specific to eubacteria (3), Planctomycetes (13), anammox bacteria (15), “Ca. Brocadia fulgida” (11), and a variety of aerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (12, 22). Before the experiments started and throughout the cultivation of the anammox bacteria with NO, the only detectable anammox species (with FISH and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis) was “Candidatus Brocadia fulgida.”In the present study, we showed that 2 mM ammonium (4.5% of the influent concentration) could be removed by anammox bacteria via direct coupling to NO reduction. These observations support the proposal of NO as an intermediate of the anammox reaction and have two consequences for application of the anammox process for nitrogen removal. First, we obtained strong indications that previously reported N₂O emissions (6, 8) from full-scale anammox reactors were not generated by anammox bacteria. In our experiments, even under a very high load of NO, there was hardly any detectable N₂O in the effluent gas stream. The competition for nitrogen oxides by denitrifying and anammox bacteria needs further study but may ultimately be used to design operational conditions that would reduce or even prevent NO and N₂O emissions from full-scale nitritation-anammox reactors. Second, by implementing the results of this study, in the future the anammox process could be designed to remove NO from flue gases. Since NO is mostly emitted together with O₂, this could be achieved by the combination of anammox and aerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria, for example, with CANON (completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite)- or OLAND (oxygen-limited autotrophic nitrification-denitrification)-type reactor systems (14, 17).     

Tomato Seed Germination. Osmotic Pretreatment and Far Red Inhibition

At 25 °C germination of tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum)seeds is inhibited by continuous and intermittent far red illumination.It is also inhibited by a single 30 min far red irradiationgiven 8 h from the start of imbibition. The incubation of seedsin a mannitol solution inhibitory for germination has no effecton the final germination percentage after seeds are subsequentlytransferred to water. A 30 min far red irradiation at the timeof transfer results in partial inhibition of germination. Thisinhibition can be released by the continuation of osmotic incubationfor several days before the transfer to water. At the end ofa 7 d dark period of osmotic incubation, inhibition of subsequentgermination in water can be realized only by continuous farred illumination. Seeds osmotically pretreated for 7 d and afterwardsdried-back show a mean time to 50% germination significantlylower than that of untreated seeds. Moreover, besides singleand intermittent, even continuous far red light has no inhibitoryeffect on the germination of these seeds. It is concluded that,in addition to the already known germination advantages, osmoticpresowing treatment also induces the ability of seeds to germinateunder unfavourable light conditi.