Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T14:43:44.844Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Characterization of water status in primed seeds of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) by sorption properties and NMR relaxation times

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2007

Shantha Nagarajan ,
V.K. Pandita ,
D.K. Joshi ,
J.P. Sinha  and
B.S. Modi
Shantha Nagarajan*
Affiliation:
Nuclear Research Laboratory, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, -110 012, India
V.K. Pandita
Affiliation:
Regional Station, IARI, Karnal, -132 001, India
D.K. Joshi
Affiliation:
Nuclear Research Laboratory, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, -110 012, India
J.P. Sinha
Affiliation:
Regional Station, IARI, Karnal, -132 001, India
B.S. Modi
Affiliation:
Regional Station, IARI, Karnal, -132 001, India
*
*Correspondence: Email: shantha@iari.res.in
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The enhanced laboratory and field emergence characteristics of osmo- and halo-primed tomato seeds (cv. Pusa Ruby) were related to changes in hydration–dehydration kinetics, modified sorption properties and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation behaviour of humidified and imbibed seeds. Water sorption isotherms were constructed for primed and unprimed seeds by equilibrating to different water activities (aw) at 25°C. Analysis of the isotherms by the D'Arcy–Watt equation revealed that priming reduced the number of strong binding sites and the associated water content, and increased significantly the number of weak binding sites and the associated water content. This redistribution of water, which increased the availability of seed water, may be the reason for the higher speed of germination of primed seeds. The changes in transverse relaxation time (T2) of seed water and its components, measured in vivo using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, showed interesting differences between primed and unprimed seeds. With an increase in humidification time, the T2 of primed seeds could be resolved into three components with varying mobilities, while the control seeds had only two components until 10 d of humidification. During imbibition, the third component appeared after 2 and 6 h in primed and control seeds, respectively. This component disappeared after the germination process started in all treatments. The third fraction, with very low molecular mobility, which accounted for about 40% of the proton population, was assigned to hydration water of macromolecules. Hence, we propose that better performance of primed seeds may be attributed to the modifications of seed water-binding properties and reorganization of seed water during imbibition, so as to increase the macromolecular hydration water required for various metabolic activities related to the germination process.

Keywords

imbibitionLycopersiconnuclear magnetic resonancerelaxation timesseed primingsorption isothermsT2tomato
Type
Research Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 2005 , pp. 99 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bačic, G., Srejic, R., Lahajnar, G., Zupancic, I. and Ratkovic, S. (1992) Water and lipids in maize seed embryos: a proton NMR relaxation and diffusion study. Seed Science and Technology 20, 233–240.Google Scholar
Belton, P.S. and Colquhoun, J.J. (1989) Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in food research. Spectroscopy 4, 22–32.Google Scholar
Brosio, E. Di, Nola, A., Fracassi, M., Carnovale, E. and Marconi, E. (1992) NMR study of seed hydration: the role of the seed anatomical structures in water uptake of soaked cowpeas. Cellular and Molecular Biology 38, 693–697.Google ScholarPubMed
Brosio, E. Di, Nola, A. and Verzegnassi, B. (1993) NMR study of seed hydration: effect of pH and ionic strength on water uptake of soaked cowpeas. Cellular and Molecular Biology 39, 193–198.Google ScholarPubMed
Buitink, J., Claessens, M.M.A.E., Hemminga, M.A. and Hoekstra, F.A. (1998) Influence of water content and temperature on molecular mobility and intracellular glasses in seeds and pollen. Plant Physiology 118, 531–541.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buitink, J., Leprince, O., Hemminga, M.A. and Hoekstra, F.A. (2000a) Molecular mobility in the cytoplasm: an approach to describe and predict lifespan of dry germplasm. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 97, 2385–2390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buitink, J., Hemminga, M.A. and Hoekstra, F.A. (2000b) Is there a role for oligosaccharides in seed longevity? An assessment of intracellular glass stability. Plant Physiology 122, 1217–1224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coolbear, P., Slater, R.J. and Bryant, J.A. (1990) Changes in nucleic-acid levels associated with improved germination performance of tomato seeds after low-temperature presowing treatment. Annals of Botany 65, 187–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Nola, A., Brosio, E., Delfini, M., Manes, F. and Quattrocchi, S. (1988) Hydration mechanism study in lettuce seeds by proton NMR relaxation times. Cellular and Molecular Biology 34, 636–648.Google ScholarPubMed
Di Nola, A., D'Ubaldo, A., Fracassi, M. and Brosio, E. (1991) NMR study of seed hydration with deuterated water – dependence of proton signals on hydration level. Cellular and Molecular Biology 37, 9–13.Google ScholarPubMed
Downie, B., Gurusinghe, S. and Bradford, K.J. (1999) Internal anatomy of individual tomato seeds: Relationship to abscisic acid and germination physiology. Seed Science Research 9, 117–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foucat, L., Chavagnat, A. and Renou, J.P. (1993) Nuclear magnetic resonance microimaging and X-radiography as possible techniques to study seed germination. Scientia Horticulturae 55, 323–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fukuoka, M., Watanabe, H., Mihori, T. and Shimada, S. (1994) Moisture diffusion in a dry soybean seed measured using pulsed-field-gradient NMR. Journal of Food Engineering 23, 533–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gambhir, P.N., Pramila, R.K., Nagarajan, S., Joshi, D.K. and Tiwari, P.N. (1997) Relationship between NMR relaxation characteristics and water activity in cereal leaves. Cellular and Molecular Biology 43, 1191–1196.Google ScholarPubMed
Heydecker, W., Higgins, J. and Gulliver, R.L. (1973) Accelerated germination by osmotic seed treatment. Nature 246, 42–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishida, N., Kano, H., Kobayashi, T. and Yoshida, T. (1988) Analysis of physical states of water in soybean seeds by NMR. Agricultural and Biological Chemistry 52, 2777–2781.Google Scholar
Karssen, C.M., Zagórski, S., Kepczyński, J. and Groot, S.P.C. (1989) Key role for endogenous gibberellins in the control of seed germination. Annals of Botany 63, 71–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, A.A., Tao, K.-L., Knypl, J.S., Borkowska, B. and Powell, L.E. (1978) Osmotic conditioning of seeds: physiological and biochemical changes. Acta Horticulturae 83, 267–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krishnan, P., Nagarajan, S. and Moharir, A.V. (2003) Changes in NMR relaxation times in soybean and wheat seeds equilibrated under different temperatures and relative humidity conditions. Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics 40, 46–50.Google Scholar
Krishnan, P., Joshi, D.K., Nagarajan, S. and Moharir, A.V. (2004) Characterisation of germinating and non-germinating wheat seeds by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. European Biophysics Journal with Biophysics Letters 33, 76–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leopold, A.C. and Vertucci, C.W. (1989) Moisture as a regulator of physiological reaction in seeds. pp. 51–67. in Stanwood, P.C.;, McDonald, M.B. (Eds) Seed moisture. Special Publication No. 14. Madison, Wisconsin, Crop Science Society of America.Google Scholar
Lewin, S. (1974) Displacement of water and its control of biochemical reactions. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Liang, Y.H. and Sun, W.Q. (2002) Rate of dehydration and cumulative desiccation stress interacted to modulate desiccation tolerance of recalcitrant cocoa and ginkgo embryonic tissues. Plant Physiology 128, 1323–1331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, Y., Van der Burg, W.J., Aartse, J.W., van Zwol, R.A., Jalink, H. and Bino, R.J. (1993) X-ray studies on changes in embryo and endosperm morphology during priming and imbibition of tomato seeds. Seed Science Research 3, 171–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Y., Bino, R.J., Van der Burg, W.J., Groot, S.P.C. and Hilhorst, H.W.M. (1996) Effect of osmotic priming on dormancy and storability of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seeds. Seed Science Research 6, 49–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michel, B.E. and Kaufmann, M.R. (1973) The osmotic potential of polyethylene glycol 6000. Plant Physiolology 51, 914–916.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moharir, A.V. and Prakash, N. (1995) Moisture desorption and absorption isotherms for seeds of some cultivars of Triticum aestivum and Triticum durum wheat. Current Science 68, 316–326.Google Scholar
Nagarajan, S. and Pandita, V.K. (2001) Improvement in germination characteristics in artificially aged seeds of tomato by osmoconditioning. Seed Research 29, 136–140.Google Scholar
Nagarajan, S., Chahal, S.S., Gambhir, P.N. and Tiwari, P.N. (1993) Relationship between leaf water spin lattice relaxation time and water relation parameters in three wheat cultivars. Plant, Cell and Environment 16, 87–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagarajan, S., Pandita, V.K. and Modi, B.S. (2003) The relationship between modified water sorption properties and enhanced performance of primed seeds of Asiatic carrot, Daucus carota. Indian Journal of Plant Physiology (Special Issue) 8, 261–268.Google Scholar
Pandita, V.K. and Nagarajan, S. (2000) Osmopriming of fresh seed and its effect on accelerated ageing in Indian tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) varieties. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 70, 479–480.Google Scholar
Pandita, V.K., Nagarajan, S. and Modi, B.S. (2003) Physiological and biochemical changes induced by priming in tomato seed and its relation to germination and field emergence characteristics. Indian Journal of Plant Physiology (Special Issue) 8, 249–255.Google Scholar
Parera, C.A. and Cantliffe, D.J. (1991) Improved germination and modified imbibition of shrunken-2 sweet corn by seed disinfection and solid matrix priming. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 116, 942–945.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parera, C.A. and Cantliffe, D.J. (1994) Presowing seed priming. Horticultural Reviews 16, 109–141.Google Scholar
Peñaloza, A.P.S. and Eira, M.T.S. (1993) Hydration–dehydration treatments on tomato seeds (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Seed Science and Technology 21, 309–316.Google Scholar
Probert, R.J., Bogh, S.V., Smith, A.J. and Wechsberg, G.E. (1991) The effects of priming on seed longevity in Ranunculus sceleratus L. Seed Science Research 1, 243–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ratkovic, S. (1987) Proton NMR of maize seed water: the relationship between spin-lattice relaxation time and water content. Seed Science and Technology 15, 147–154.Google Scholar
Rockland, L.B. (1969) Water activity and storage stability. Food Technology 23, 1241–1251.Google Scholar
Saha, R., Mandal, A.K. and Basu, R.N. (1990) Physiology of seed invigoration treatments in soybean (Glycine max L.). Seed Science and Technology 18, 269–276.Google Scholar
Samuilov, F.D., Nikiforova, V.I. and Nikiforov, E.A. (1979) Study of the effect of paramagnetic admixtures on spin-lattice relaxation of intracellular water protons. Biofizika 24, 270–273.Google Scholar
Snaar, J.E.M., Van, As H. (1992) Probing water compartments and membrane permeability in plant cells by H 1 NMR relaxation measurements. Biophysical Journal 63, 1654–1658.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sun, W.Q. (1997) Glassy state and seed storage stability: the WLF kinetics of seed viability loss at TT g and the plasticization effect of water on storage stability. Annals of Botany 79, 291–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, W.Q. and Leopold, A.C. (1994) Glassy state and seed storage stability: a viability equation analysis. Annals of Botany 74, 601–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, W.Q., Koh, D.C.Y. and Ong, C.M. (1997) Correlation of modified water sorption properties with the decline of storage stability of osmotically primed seeds of Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek. Seed Science Research 7, 391–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, W.Q., Liang, Y., Huang, S. and Fu, J. (2003) Biopolymer volume change and water clustering function of primed Vigna radiata seeds. Seed Science Research 13, 287–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van, As H. (1992) NMR in horticulture: in situ plant water balance studies with NMR. Acta Horticulturae 304, 103–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vertucci, C.W. and Leopold, A.C. (1984) Bound water in soybean seed and its relation to respiration and imbibitional damage. Plant Physiology 75, 114–117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vertucci, C.W. and Leopold, A.C. (1987) The relationship between water binding and desiccation tolerance in tissues. Plant Physiology 85, 232–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vertucci, C.W. and Roos, E.E. (1993) Theoretical basis of protocols for seed storage. II. The influence of temperature on optimal moisture levels. Seed Science Research 3, 201–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar