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Water uptake and oil distribution during imbibition of seeds of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D. Don) monitored in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging

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Abstract

Dry or fully imbibed seeds of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D. Don) were studied using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Analyses of the dry seed revealed many of the gross anatomical features of seed structure. Furthermore, the non-invasive nature of MRI allowed for a study of the dynamics of water and oil distribution during in situ imbibition of a single seed with time-lapse chemical shift selective MRI. During soaking of the dry seed, water penetrated through the seed coat and megagametophyte. The cotyledons of the embryo (located in the chalazal end of the seed) were the first to show hydration followed by the hypocotyl and later the radicle. After penetrating the seed coat, water in the micropylar end of the seed likely also contributed to further hydration of the embryo; however, the micropyle itself did not appear to be a site for water entry into the seed. A model that describes the kinetics of the earlier stages of imbibition is proposed. Non-viable pine seeds captured with MRI displayed atypical imbibition kinetics and were distinguished by their rapid and uncontrolled water uptake. The potential of MR microimaging for detailed studies of water uptake and distribution during the soaking, moist chilling (“stratification”), and germination of conifer seeds is discussed.

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Abbreviations

CSSI:

Chemical shift selective imaging

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

NMR:

Nuclear magnetic resonance

TE:

Echo delay

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dave Kolotelo and Dean Christianson (of the B.C. Ministry of Forests Tree Seed Center, Surrey, Canada) for their help in obtaining mature western white pine seed and to Marco L.H. Gruwel (NRC Institute for Biodiagnostics, Winnipeg, Canada) for preliminary MRI experiments. Thanks are also extended to Igor Moudrakovski (NRC Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, Ottawa, Canada) and to Brock Chatson (Plant Biotechnology Institute, Saskatoon, Canada) for their assistance with some of the MRI experiments and to Wayne Rasband (National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, USA) who developed and made available the “ImageJ” processing program. This research was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Strategic grant awarded to A.R.K., S.R.A., and others.

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Author notes

  1. Chengwei Ren

    Present address: U.S. Department of Agriculture, University of Missouri-Columbia, 210 Waters Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Victor V. Terskikh, J. Allan. Feurtado, Chengwei Ren & Allison R. Kermode

  2. Plant Biotechnology Institute, National Research Council of Canada, 110 Gymnasium Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0W9, Canada

    Suzanne R. Abrams

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  1. Victor V. Terskikh
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  2. J. Allan. Feurtado
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  3. Chengwei Ren
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  4. Suzanne R. Abrams
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  5. Allison R. Kermode
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Allison R. Kermode.

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Terskikh, V.V., Feurtado, J.A., Ren, C. et al. Water uptake and oil distribution during imbibition of seeds of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D. Don) monitored in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging. Planta 221, 17–27 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1426-z

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