Oxidative metabolism‐related changes during germination of mono maple (Acer mono Maxim.) seeds under seasonal frozen soil

Abstract

Oxidative metabolism-related changes during germination of mono maple (Acer mono Maxim.) seeds under seasonal frozen soil Abstract The influence of seasonal frozen soil and buried depth on germination of mono maple (Acer mono Maxim.) seeds was studied in field conditions in winter in a sub-alpine region. Mono maple seeds almost lost their ability to germinate in non-freezing soil, while seasonal frozen soil treatments facilitated the germination accompanied with a progressive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The result indicates that ROS may act as a positive signal for seed dormancy. However, exceeding accumulation of ROS led to decrease in germination rate. We suggest that the shift from a signaling to a deleterious role may be related to the accumulation of these ROS above a threshold level that leads to various cellular alterations and damage. The enhanced activities of antioxidant enzymes appear to be more closely related to freezing tolerance, because of their ability to scavenge ROS to avoid deleterious events. Seasonal frozen soil was beneficial in accelerating the germination of mono maple seeds. However, a slight increase of freezing temperature may have also facilitated the germination of mono maple seeds by enhanced activities of antioxidant enzymes. Hence, moderate winter warming may be beneficial to mono maple regeneration due to the improvement of seed germination, but the disappearance of seasonal frozen soil may lead to germination failure of the mono maple seeds.

Effect of different foliar zinc application at different growth stages on seed zinc concentration and its impact on seedling vigor in rice

“…These findings indicate that there may be high need for Zn during root and coleoptile development, for active protein synthesis and/ or other related functions. During the seed germination, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is unavoidable and seeds/seedlings have defense mechanisms against ROS production (Bailly et al 2002;Qin and Liu 2010). One of the defense enzymes against ROS is superoxide dismutase which is Zn dependent (Cakmak 2000;Broadley et al 2007).…”

“…This element has also been indicated to be required as a cofactor in over 300 enzymes (Coleman 1998). During germination, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is well known (Cakmak et al 1993;Bailly et al 2002;Qin and Liu 2010) and Zn plays a central role in detoxification of ROS in plant cells (Cakmak 2000;Broadley et al 2007).…”

Role of seed-Zn content on seed longevity of pigeonpea genotypes

“…In the present study, seed zinc content exhibited positive significant association with all the seed quality parameters at initial and also at the end of storage period except electrical conductivity (Table 5 and 6). Significant positive association between seed-Zn content and quality parameters during the storage might be due to production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which is unavoidable and seeds /seedlings have defense mechanisms against ROS production (Qin and Liu, 2010). One of the defense enzymes against ROS is superoxide dismutase which is Zn dependent (Cakmak 2000 andBroadley et al, 2007).…”

Winter soil CO2 efflux in two contrasting forest ecosystems on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, China

“…The soil is frozen approximately from late November to early April, with a maximum snow depth of ca. 30 cm (Qin and Liu 2010). Annual precipitation ranges from 600 to 1100 mm.…”