The role of abscisic acid in heat stress induced secondary dormancy in apple seeds

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Ozga, Jocelyn A.
  • Dennis, F. G.

• Exposure of stratified apple (Malus domestics Borkh. cv. Golden Delicious) seeds to 30C induces secondary dormancy. To determine if an increase in abscisic acid (ABA) content was associated with the loss in germination capacity, stratified seeds (3,- 6, or 9 weeks at 5C) were held at 30C for 0, 3, or 6 days. Stratification at 5C either had no effect or increased ABA content in embryonic axes, cotyledons, and seed coats. Exposure to 30C after stratification either did not affect or decreased ABA content of embryonic axes and seed coats; in contrast, cotyledonary ABA was increased. Seed coats, cotyledons, and embryonic axes stratified for 3, 6, or 9 weeks at 20C contained the same or higher levels of ABA in comparison with nonstratified seeds or seeds stratified at SC. Changes in ABA levels were not consistently correlated with changes in germination capacity during stratification or after exposure to 30C. These data suggest that changes in ABA are not related to changes in dormancy. Chemical names used: abscisic acid (ABA); butylated hydroxy-toluene (BHT); N-(trichloromethyl) thio-4-cyclohexene-1,2-dicarboximide(Captan).

• Date created

  1991-01-01

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Embryonic axis
  • Chilling requirement
  • Stratification
  • Germination
  • Malus domestica
  • Cotyledons
  • Seed coat

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-vamy-vd71

• License

  © 1991 J. A. Ozga et al. This version of this article is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The original author(s) and source must be cited.