Relationships Between Seed Respiration During Imbibition and Subsequent Seedling Growth in Zea mays L

Corn (Zea mays L.) seed respiration rates during the first 30 hours of germination were compared with seedling growth 3 to 5 days after planting. Significant positive correlations were observed between rates of O₂ uptake during imbibition and later stages of germination and seedling growth. Glutamic acid decarboxylase activity also was positively correlated with seedling growth. The highly significant correlations between respiratory quotients and seedling growth were negative.

Seed metabolism during the initial hours of germination is evidently related somehow to seedling growth rates several days later. Whether this relationship is due to the dependence of synthetic processes and growth on respiratory energy, the fact that high respiration rates reflect high levels of metabolic activity, or to some other cause, remains to be determined.