Lecture 5

Seed dormancy
 Seed dormancy
• Dormancy is the condition In which seeds will
not Germinate… even when most of the
environmental conditions are permissive for
germination.
• Simpson (1990) defines dormancy as the
temporary failure of a viable seed to germinate,
after a specific length of time, in a particular set of
environmental conditions that later evoke
germination when the restrictive state has been
terminated by either natural or artificial
conditions.
• There are many types of dormancy
 Advantages of Seed Dormancy
• Favors seedling survival
• Creates a seed bank
• Seed dispersal (birds)
• Synchronizes germination with seasons
• Prevents pre-harvest seed sprouting
• e.g. Resistance to pre-harvest sprouting in barley,
oats, rice and wheat is correlated with the level
of dormancy in the mature seeds.
 Types of seed dormancy
• Quiescent – The seeds are able to germinate upon
imbibitions of water at permissive temperatures.
• Primary Dormancy – Seeds cannot germinate
even if immediate conditions are right.
– This form of dormancy delays germination until
season, or other macro-environmental issues are right
for survival.
– Most seed does not germinate immediately but rather
undergoes or is under the influence of some type of
primary dormancy present to delay initial seed
germination.
 Types of seed dormancy
• Secondary Dormancy – An additional level of
Protection to prevent germination.
– Can be induced under very unfavorable conditions such as
drought or cold, etc.
– Secondary dormancy factors can also influenced seed
dormancy.
– Secondary dormancy prevents germination of a seed after
imbibitions of water has occurred.
– The activation phase has started but doesn't progress.
– Causes of secondary dormancy include temperature extremes
prolonged darkness, or prolonged light.
– Water stress, dry conditions, or oxygen extremes – anoxia or
hypoxia (too much or too little oxygen) can also induce
secondary dormancy.
 Types of seed dormancy…
• Exogenous Dormancy - Imposed by factors
outside the embryo. E.g. Seed coat.
• Endogenous Dormancy – Imposed by factors
within the embryo. E.g. Underdeveloped
embryo.
• Double Dormancy - Any combination of
endogenous and exogenous factors
• Secondary Dormancy - Factors outside the seed
induce dormancy after the seed was previously
non-dormant.
– High Soil Temperatures (Thermo-dormancy)
 Secondary Dormancy
• Thermo-dormancy - High temperatures induce
dormancy
Growth regulators or Cold stratification
• Conditional – Change in ability to germinate is related to
time of year. Chilling or Warm stratification
 Photo-dormancy
Photodormancy : A type of dormancy
where the ability of the seed to germinate
is controlled by the wavelengths and
durations of light received by the embryo.

e.g. Lettuce, Tobacco

 Causes of seed dormancy
• Permeability of Seed Coats
• Temperature Requirements
• Light Requirements and interaction with
Temperature
• Germination Inhibitors
 Preconditioning Seeds
(for more uniform germination)

Methods:
Mechanical scarification
Acid scarification
Soaking in Water
Moist Chilling / Freezing
Double Dormancy
 seeds require more developmental signals
to break dormancy
• Maturation of embryo required seed ripening
• Seed coat impermeable to water and oxygen
• Scarification is required
• Leaching of inhibitors such as ABA, phenolics,
coumarin, etc.
– E.g. many desert annuals

• Chilling Stratification may be required

• Light: Sensor is phyto-chrome
 The life span of seeds
• Long-lived seeds e.g. barley
• Short-lived seeds e.g. soybean

• Factors influencing the life span of seeds:

– Internal Factors
– Relative Humidity and Temperature
– Seed Moisture
Seed deterioration can be characterized by
3 factors
• 1. Seed deterioration is an inexorable process:
– All living thing eventually deteriorate and die.
– It is possible to retard the rate of deterioration through
optimum storage practices.
• 2- Seed deterioration is an irreversible process:
– Once seed deterioration occurred, this can not be
reversed.
• 3- Seed deterioration varies among seed populations:
– It is now well established that certain varieties exhibit less
deterioration than others.
 Symptoms of Seed Deterioration

• Morphological changes:
• Seed coat colour often provides an indication of seed
deterioration, particularly for legumes.
• Darkening of the seed coat in deteriorating clover,
peanut and soybean seeds have been reported.
• Color changes are presumably due to oxidative
reactions in the seed coat which are accelerated under
high temperature and relative humidity conditions.
• Other morphological changes have been reported in
deteriorating lettuce seeds which develop red necrotic
lesions in the cotyledons (Cotyledonary necrosis).
Symptoms of Seed Deterioration…
• Ultrastructure Changes
– The ultrastructure changes using electron
microscopy and two general patterns of
coalescence of lipid bodies and plasma lemma
withdrawal with deterioration have been observed.
– Coalescence of lipid bodies in the embryo has been
founding broad group of species. Withdrawal of the
plasma lemma also has been detected in these
species (wheat, peas and pine).
– It is significant that both of these events influence
cell membrane integrity.
Symptoms of Seed Deterioration…
• Cell Membranes
– Deteriorating seeds are characterized by inability to retain cellular
constituents which leak out during imbibition.
– Many of these cellular constituents are essential for normal,
vigorous germination.
– Some of these compounds are necessary for maintenance of
internal osmotic potential which is responsible for normal water
uptake and provides the turgor pressure required for radical
protrusion.
– The external leakage of these substances encourages the growth
of pathogenic microflora.
– The increased leakage was attributed for membrane disruptions,
associated with loss of membrane phospholipids. This loss may be
due to either phospholipase enzyme activity or lipid peroxidation.
 Symptoms of Seed Deterioration…

• -Loss of Enzyme Activity

– Among the biochemical tests that have been
used to measure loss of enzyme activity are the
tetrazolium test (dehydrogenase), catalase,
peroxidase, amylase and cytochrome oxidase.
Symptoms of Seed Deterioration…
• Reduced Respiration
– As seeds deteriorate, respiration becomes
progressively weaker, and leads to loss of
germination
 Seed Viability testing
• Viability means that a seed is capable of germinating
and producing a normal seedling.
• Therefore, a given seed is either viable or nonviable,
depending on its ability to germinate and produce a
normal seedling.
• The another sense, viability denotes the degree to
which a seed is alive, metabolically active, and
possesses enzymes capable of catalyzing metabolic
reactions needed for germination and seedling growth.
• Numerous tests exist for determining seed viability,
these are discussed in the following.
 Germination Test

• This is most commonly used to determine seed

viability.
• It is a useful viability index.
• It is considered as indicative of the ability to
produce a normal plant under favourable
conditions.
• Seeds of certain species require special treatment
for maximum germination or breaking dormancy.
• Such requirements include light and GA.Eight hours
of light per day is usually sufficient.
• GA (0.2%) is used to promote germination of some
dormant seeds.
 Tetrazolium Test

• This is an accurate means of estimating seed

viability.
• It is often referred to as “quick test” since it
can be completed in only a few hours (as
compared to regular germination tests that
require as long as two months for some
species).
 Tetrazolium Test…

• Principle:
• The tetrazolium test distinguishes between viable and
dead tissues of the embryo on the basis of their relative
respiration rate in the hydrated state.
• Although many enzymes are active during respiration, the
test utilizes the activity of dehydrogenase enzymes as an
index to the respiration rate and seed viability.
• Dehydrogenase enzymes react with substrates and
release hydrogen ions to the oxidized, colorless,
tetrazolium salt solution, which is changed into red
formazan.
• Seed viability is interpreted according to the staining
pattern of the embryo and the intensity of the coloration.
 Tetrazolium Test…

• Procedure
• Seeds are first imbibed on a wet substratum to allow
complete hydration of all tissues.
• For many species, the tetrazolium solution can be added to
the intact seed.
• Other seeds must be prepared by cutting and puncturing in
various ways to permit access of tetrazolium – solution to all
parts of seed.
• After hydration, the seeds are placed in a tetrazolium salt
solution at 35oC
• Two hours usually adequate for seeds that are bisected
through the embryo, but others require longer periods of
staining.
• Tests focus on seed membrane and embryo integrity
 Conductivity Test
• Conductivity tests are based on the fact that
as seed deterioration progresses,
• The cell membranes become less rigid and
more water – permeable,
• Allowing the cell contents to escape into
solution with the water and increasing its
electrical conductivity.
 Excised Embryo Tests

• It is a way of recessing seed viability in

dormant seeds, especially in woody species.
• If the embryos of dormant seeds are carefully
removed without injury and placed on a moist
filter paper under favourable conditions they
will readily grow and turn green.
• This will happen much more rapid than in the
intact seed.
 3-
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) Test

• The test is conducted by cutting the seed coat at

the radical and allowing a 1% solution of H2O2 to
permeate the interior of the seed.
• This treatment results in more rapid root
protrusion compared to the standard germiantion
test.
• This stimulation might occur from the degradation
of H2O2 into H2O & O2 which enhances the
environment surrounding the seeds and thus
stimulates germination.
• Other tests focus on the integrity of the seed
coat which can have an influence on
imbibition damage, seed leakage, and
susceptibility to invasion by pathogens.
• They include the following:
 Ferric Chloride Test

• Mechanically injured legume seeds turn black

when placed in a solution of FeCl2 (20%) for 15
min.
• It is a very rapid test and gives a quick
estimate of the % of abnormal seedlings which
expected from a seed lot of a particular
legume crop.
 Fast Green Test
• This test also reveals physical fractures in the
seed coat of light – colored seeds such as corn.
• Seeds are soaked in a 0.1% fast green solution
for 15-30 seconds.
• During this period, the fast green penetrates
any area of the seed coat which has been
fractured and stains the endosperm green.
• After the soak period, the seeds are washed
and the fractures then become apparent in the
seed coat.