Ageing and Osmotic Priming in Wheat Seeds: Effects Upon Certain Components of Seed Quality

Deteriorated wheat seed lots were osmotically primed and surface-dried,dried-back, then aged for two more weeks Osmotic priming didnot affect the final germination in any of the aged seed lots,but mean germination time was decreased The response of unagedseed lot to treatments was studied in the following the timecourses of germination, as well as L-[4, 5-²H]leucine and [6-³H]thymidineincorporation (as a measure of protein and DNA synthesis, respectively)into dissected embryos during the early hours of germinationIt was found that the variation in mean germination time andthe rate of synthetic reactions were related The greatest improvementin the components of seed lot quality was achieved after primingand surface drying The beneficial effects of priming were apparenteven after dehydration followed by two further weeks of ageingCumulative correlations between mean germination time and variousbiochemical tests in variously treated aged seed lots were highlysignificant The physiological processes involved in deteriorationand recovery and the potential application of biochemical testsin detecting vigour changes are discussed Triticum durum, seed, ageing, osmotic priming, mean germination time, protein DNA synthesis