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Abstract
The microplate reader is becoming a common research laboratory instrument that can be adapted to accelerate many colorimetric assays. A colorimetric method has been modified to allow the use of a microplate reader for determining amylose levels in starch from potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.). The time needed for measuring the absorbance of many amylose samples was significantly reduced over the spectro-photometric method. The method has been shown to be accurate and reproducible.
Abstract
Dwarf Burford holly (Ilex cornuta Lindl. & Paxt. ‘Burfordii Nana’), dwarf Japanese euonymus (Euonymus japonica Thunb. ‘Microphylla’), and ‘Hershey’s Red’ azalea (Rhododendron x sp.) were grown in containers in all combinations of 3 diameters (10.2, 15.2, and 20.3 cm) and 3 depths (7.6, 15.2, and 30.5 cm). Top growth of Burford holly, a species with coarse, lateral, and deep roots, increased as pot depth and width increased; root growth was increased in deep pots. Euonymus, a species with a densely branched, medium fine root system, increased in top growth as pot depth and width increased, although the response to pot depth was less than to width. Top growth of azalea, a fibrous and shallow-rooted species, increased as pot width increased but was not affected by pot depth. Root density of euonymus and azalea decreased as pot depth and width increased, whereas relative root depth of azalea was reduced in deep pots.
The effect of seed germination rate, or of seedling emergence rate, was studied in relation to subsequent plant growth of `Cortina' lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). Seedling growth response to selection by time of germination was assessed by imbibing seeds at 5 °C to increase the time range for germination. Germinated seeds were removed daily and transferred to “slants” (germination paper held at 20° from vertical) at 15 °C. Five days after each transfer, root and hypocotyl lengths were measured. As days required for germination increased, root lengths decreased and hypocotyl lengths increased, resulting in no change in total seedling length. The relation between rate of seedling emergence from raw or pelleted seeds of the same lot and shoot fresh weight was examined using commercially practiced hydroponic techniques. Shoot fresh weight at 10 and 21 days after planting was related inversely and linearly to the day of emergence for both seed treatments. In the same study, the coefficient of variation of shoot fresh weight was positively related to time of seedling emergence only at 10 days. Germinated seeds were selected after 1 and 2 days of imbibition; subsequent seedling emergence rate and shoot fresh weight at 25 days were recorded. First-day germinated seeds had faster and more synchronous emergence, and produced heavier and more uniform shoots. Discarding slow-to-germinate seeds should enhance seedling emergence and growth.
Raw, pelleted or germinated seeds of `Cortina' lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) were sown in phenolic foam cubes preplant soaked in water or fullstrength nutrient solution (2 mmho·cm−1, 2 dS·m−1). The seeds were left uncovered or covered with fine vermiculite (grade 5), and seedling emergence characteristics were subsequently determined. Shoot fresh masses and their coefficients of variation (cv) by 9 days after planting (1 or 2 true leaves) and by 31 days after planting (4 or 5 true leaves) also were determined. Soaking the cubes in nutrient solution rather than water increased seedling emergence percentage and rate, and increased shoot fresh masses by 9 or 31 days after planting. This increased shoot fresh mass was accompanied by lower cv of shoot fresh mass by 9 days after planting, but not by 31 days after planting. Covering seeds with vermiculite decreased emergence from 99% to 93%, but increased shoot fresh mass by 9 and 31 days after planting when cubes were soaked in water, but not in nutrient solution. Seed treatments influenced shoot fresh mass at 9 and 31 days after planting in the order germinated > pelleted > raw. Germinated seeds resulted in lower cv of shoot fresh mass (24%) than raw or pelleted seeds (29%) by 31 days after planting. Thus, sowing germinated seeds into foam cubes soaked in full-strength nutrient solution, with or without covering the seeds with vermiculite, produced the heaviest and most uniform seedlings.
Viola tricolor seed were exposed to aerated solutions of water or 300 or 400 mM NaCl for 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 days. After priming treatments, seed were air dried, placed on moist filter paper in petri dishes, and set in dark growth chambers at 18 or 30°C for germination. priming for 6 days in water increased germination of `Crystal Bowl Yellow' seed from 80 to 88% when germinated at 30 °. Untreated seed germination was 92% at 18°. Priming for 6 days in 300 mM NaCl improved germination of `Majestic Giant Blue' seed from 57 to 76% when germinated at 30°. Untreated seed germination was 80% at 18°. These data indicate that seed priming could be used to improve summer germination of a cool season annual. Priming increased germination at the higher than optimum temperature (30°) to levels similar to that for the optimum temperature (18°). However, the best priming solution depended on the cultivar.
Poor and inconsistent germination is a problem in triploid watermelon. Nicking was shown effective in improving germination in triploid cultivars. In this experiment, we examined the effects of high and low medium moisture, and nicking on diploid and triploid seed germination. Germination for the diploid cultivar was unaffected by any treatment. At high moisture conditions, triploid seed germination was severely reduced to less than 15%, while nicking significantly improved germination up to 40%. However, this increase is still not commercially acceptable. When seed morphological components were measured for each cultivar, triploid seeds had a larger and highly variable air space as compared to the diploid seed. The data confirm that seed germination is not inhibited by the seedcoat alone, but appears to be highly sensitive to excessive water conditions.
We have been examining the response of maize seedling roots to oxygen stress. Previously, we have shown that maize seedlings with primary root lengths of 10cm or greater require a pretreatment with low oxygen (hypoxia) for survival of greater than 12 hours of anoxia. During the pretreatment there is induction of mRNA and increase in enzymatic activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and other enzymes that are necessary for alcoholic fermentation. However, we have found that younger seedlings do not need a pretreatment to survive anoxia. They appear to have high levels of ADH and other enzymes that are needed for anaerobic survival at levels equivalent to those that are induced in older seedlings. These results suggest that, at the time of seedling emergence, seedlings may be more adapted to oxygen stress than during later stages of growth.