Recalcitrant behaviour of the seeds of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels during embryogeny and natural desiccation
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Recalcitrant behaviour of the seeds of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels during embryogeny and natural desiccation Parvathy S. Nair1
•
K. G. Ajith Kumar1 • Gayatri G. P.1 • G. Sunil Kesava Deth1
Received: 23 January 2020 / Accepted: 9 June 2020 Ó Indian Society for Plant Physiology 2020
Abstract Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels is an indigenous, evergreen arborescent species in the Western-Ghats having multiple utilization. Though the species has been reported as recalcitrant one, the exact seed biology has not been well documented. The work mainly focussed on understanding the seed physiology during embryogeny and natural drying. The embryonal axis and cotyledons showed a tendency to import water from the maternal plant during embryogeny with higher water content in the embryos at maturity, compared to other recalcitrant embryos. No delay was observed during seed germination, the rate of drying was faster, seeds lost viability after 360 h of natural drying and the critical moisture content of the embryonal axis was found to be 27.5%. A strong positive correlation existed between the rate of seed germination and the moisture content of the embryo. Desiccation was accompanied by electrolyte leakage from the embryo due to membrane damage, an inverse relationship could be observed between moisture content and electrolyte leakage in the embryos. The growth regulator, ABA showed a peak during midembryogeny and then a decreasing trend in the late embryogeny in both cotyledons and axis, indicating the true recalcitrant behaviour of the seeds. Keywords Recalcitrance DAA (days after anthesis) ABA (abscisic acid) Critical moisture content Electrical conductivity (EC) Indirect competitive ELISA
& Parvathy S. Nair [email protected] 1
Department of Botany and Research Centre, Govt. College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram 695 014, Kerala, India
Introduction Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels is an evergreen indigenous arborescent species, belonging to the family Myrtaceae, commonly known as Jamun, Malabar plum or Indian blackberry (Soh and Parnell 2015). It is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Indonesia (IUCN 2019), commercially utilized for its edible fruits and therapeutic compounds (Soh 2017). The species has been categorized as a threatened one due to problems associated with its natural regeneration and the seeds are reported to be recalcitrant with the embryos losing their viability very quickly (Mbuya et al. 1994). Recalcitrant seeds are highly sensitive to desiccation (Pammenter and Berjak 1999) hence they cannot be stored for longer periods. Seed physiology and molecular mechanism of desiccation tolerance in orthodox species have been well documented. However, it has not been given much attention in the desiccation-sensitive recalcitrant seeds. The present study aimed at understanding the physiological changes during embryogeny and embryo desiccation in the recalcitrant seeds of Jamun.
Materials and methods Collections Jamun seeds were collected from their natural habita
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