Low Temperature Effects on Soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr. cv. Wells) Mitochondrial Respiration and Several Dehydrogenases during Imbibition and Germination

The influence of low temperature on soybean (Glycine max L.] Merr. cv. Wells) energy transduction via mitochondrial respiration and dehydrogenases was investigated in this study during imbibition and germination. Mitochondria were isolated from embryonic axes of seeds treated at 10 and 23 C (control) by submergence in H₂O for 6 hours and maintenance for an additional 42 hours in a moist environment. Arrhenius plots of initial respiration rates revealed that those from cold-treated axes had respiratory control (RC) ratios of near 1.0 above an inflection in the plot at 8 C. Arrhenius plots of control axes mitochondrial respiration showed RC ratios of 2.8 above and 5.0 below an inflection temperature of 12.5 C. Energies of activation for mitochondrial respiration between 20 and 30 C for the cold and control treatments were 7.8 and 15.6 kcal/mole, respectively. These data indicate possible differences in mitochondrial membranes, degree of mitochondrial integrity, and mitochondrial enzyme complement between the two treatments.