Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências
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An. Acad. Bras. Cienc. · Oct 2015
Physiological and biochemical changes during the loss of desiccation tolerance in germinating Adenanthera pavonina L. seeds.
We investigated the loss of desiccation tolerance (DT) in Adenanthera pavonina seeds during germination. Seeds were subjected to imbibition for 0, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 81 h, then dried to their initial moisture content (13%), rehydrated and evaluated for survival (resumption of growth and development of normal seedlings) and membrane system integrity (electrolyte leakage). ⋯ The loss of desiccation tolerance could not be related to either membrane damage caused by drying or the resumption of the cell cycle during germination. However, the decrease in heat-stable protein contents observed throughout germination may be related to the loss of DT in A. pavonina seeds.