© 2005 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Induction of tolerance to desiccation and cryopreservation in silver maple (Acer saccharinum) embryonic axes
T. Beardmore (1, 2) and C.-A. Whittle (3)
1. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service–Atlantic Region, HJF Forestry Complex, P.O. Box 4000, Fredericton, NB E3A
5P7, Canada / 2. Corresponding author (tbeardmo@nrcan.gc.ca) / 3. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1ZA, Canada / Received August 10, 2004; accepted January 15, 2005; published online June 1, 2005
Summary
Twenty percent of of the world’s flowering plants produce recalcitrant seeds (i.e., seeds that cannot withstand drying or
freezing). We investigated whether the embryonic axis from the normally recalcitrant seeds of silver maple (Acer saccharinum L.) can be made tolerant to desiccation (10% water content) and low temperature (–196 °C, cryopreservation) by pretreatment
with ABA or the compound tetcyclacis, which enhances endogenous ABA concentrations. Pretreatment of axes with both ABA and
tetcyclacis increased germination after desiccation and freezing to 55% from a control value of zero. Pretreatment of axes
with ABA and tetcyclacis increased the ABA content of the axes, as measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay, and stimulated the
synthesis of storage and dehydrin-like proteins, believed to have a role in the desiccation tolerance of orthodox seeds.
Keywords:
abscisic acid, recalcitrant, storage, temperature, tetcyclacis.
