S.M. 1987. Seed dormancy in Acer: Is there a coitimon mechanism for all Acer spedes and what part is played in it by abscisic acid? -Physiol. Plant. 71: 365-371.Seeds of Acer pseudoplatanus L. are usually considered to show only testa-imposed dormancy, but a transient embryo dormancy has also been identified at the time of fruit dispersal. Even embryos that did not show full dormancy at this stage possessed iow germinative vigour. Removal of embryo dormancy and the development of increased germination potential did not require the low temperatures necessary for the removal of testa-imposed dormancy in this spedes. Germination rates of embryos from freshly harvested or briefly stored fruits were accelerated by removal of cotyledonary tissue, the most rapid responses occurring in isolated embryonic axes following complete removal of both cotyledons. Longer storage reduced this effect because of the increases in germinative vigour of whole embryos. Abscisic acid (ABA) reinforced embryo dormancy in embryos from freshly harvested or briefly stored fruits and also reduced germination rates in similarly derived isolated embryonic axes. This response to ABA also became progressively less marked as the storage period was extended. Loss of embryo dormancy was correlated with a reduction in endogenous abscisic add levels in both whole embryos and cotyledons, suggesting that endogenous ABA contributes to the regulation of embryo dormancy in these seeds. There are no indications, however, that endogenous ABA is directly implicated in the low temperature processes associated with the removal of testa-imposed dormancy. The relevance of embryo donnancy in the intact seed of A. pseudoplatanus is discussed.
Germination of Acer pseudoplatanus L. and Acer platanoides L. seeds was increased by moist storage of the intact fruits (seed + pericarp) at 5 degrees C, but not at 17 degrees C. In both species, germinative capacity of isolated embryos (seeds with testa removed) was increased by moist storage of fruits at either 5 or 17 degrees C. Thus dormancy loss by intact seeds and excised embryos was not necessarily correlated. Loss of dormancy in isolated embryos was associated with a reduction in free abscisic acid (ABA) content. Embryos from freshly harvested fruits of A. pseudoplatanus had a higher germinative capacity and a lower free ABA content than embryos from freshly harvested fruits of A. platanoides. Morever, germinative capacity increased, and free ABA content decreased, more rapidly with length of fruit storage in A. platanoides embryos than in A. pseudoplatanus embryos.
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