Hugo de Vries and the Development of Seed Aging Theory

Although work published in 1901 by de Vries has helped shapeour current understanding of the relationship between seed agingand genetic mutation, it has been fundamentally misinterpreted.Upon sowing 5 year-old Oenothera erythrosepala seed, de Vriesobtained an emergence of about 1 per cent. A relatively highproportion of the seedlings (about 40 per cent) displayed mutantphenotypes, mostly albida or lata. De Vries concluded that thesephenotypes, which were already present to a minor extent (about1 per cent) in unaged seed lots, were more resistant to agingthan the erythrosepala norm. Later opinion has dismissed DeVries' hypothesis, contending instead that the mutant phenotypesarose as a consequence of seed aging. A reconsideration of thesedata suggests that the De Vries' explanation remains more convincing;paradoxically, his work on seed aging has been influential becauseit has been consistently misunderstood. Mutation, Oenothera, seed aging