Water Relations in the Germination of Seeds

  • D. Koller
  • A. Hadas
Chapter
Part of the Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology book series (PLANT, volume 12 / B)

Abstract

In seeds, the term germination includes those processes that lead to the initiation of growth in the quiescent embryonic sporophyte which they contain. Growth is a measurable and irreversible increase in size that results from cell expansion, whether or not accompanied by cell division. Most seeds contain within their embryos, or in the adjacent endosperm, or perisperm, the substrates that are necessary to sustain the initial growth of the embryo, by which germination is expressed, as well as for the subsequent growth and establishment of their seedlings in their natural habitat. These substrates (polysaccharides, proteins, triglycerides, salts of phytic acid) must first be hydrolyzed from the condensed and insoluble forms in which they are stored. In the dry seed, the metabolic machinery for the hydrolyses, for the subsequent syntheses and for the production of energy is almost entirely absent, inactive, or disassembled. In order for germination to take place, various components of this metabolic machinery must be activated, assembled and synthesized de novo. These processes require energy, but respiratory activity of the dry seed is very low, frequently undetectable. The first requirement for germination is water for hydrolysis, as a medium for translocation by diffusion, for hydration of enzymes, cell membranes and organelles to their operational conformation, and finally to provide the driving force for cell expansion that is initiated by germination.

Keywords

Seed Germination Seed Coat Water Relation Contact Impedance Osmotic Solution 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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© Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg 1982

Authors and Affiliations

  • D. Koller
  • A. Hadas

There are no affiliations available

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