The biochemical changes taking place during soybean seed development and gennination, and some aspects of desiccation tolerance were assessed with reference to lipid peroxidation and antioxidant systems. During nonnal seed development, fresh weight and dry weight increased between 20 and 50 days after flowering (DAF), concomitant with the accumulation of triacylglycerols and sugar reserves, after which dry weight remained almost unchanged, and fresh weight decreased. Seed moisture content decreased rapidly during the last stages of development. High levels of lipid peroxidation were evident between 20 and 45 DAF, and decreased thereafter. An examination of antioxidant systems revealed that whereas total glutathione levels accumulated continuously throughout the 80 days of seed development, both dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) reductase and ascorbate free radical (AFR) reductase increased concurrently with the increase in total ascorbate content, and the overall levels did not decrease markedly during maturation drying. Ascorbate peroxidase (ASC POD) activity was high during the period ofgreatest ascorbate accumulation. Both catalase (CAn and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities increased progressively during early seed development (20-40 DAF), but showed variable patterns of change during maturational drying, in marked contrast to ASC POD which declined from 40 DAF to undetectable levels at 70 DAF. An assessment of the relationship between the antioxidant systems and lipid peroxidation was made during imbibition and gennination, as it has been suggested that controlling free radicals was a critical event in early imbibition. Unexpectedly, lipid peroxidation increased progressively in both seeds and isolated axes, and were eight-fold higher at 48 hours of imbibition compared to dry tissues. A progressive, and co-ordinated, increase in CAT, total glutathione, total ascorbate pool, guaiacol POD, ASC POD, and SOD appeared to parallel the rise in lipid peroxidation in both whole seeds and axes. Variable responses were evident between seeds and axes for the enzymes AFR reductase and DHA reductase In order to gain a further insight into the dynamics of desiccation-tolerance and desiccationsensitivity, imbibing seeds were subjected to an unscheduled dehydration treatment, and then rehydrated for up to 24 hours. During these hydration-dehydration-rehydration (H-D-R) treatments, changes in lipid peroxidation and antioxidant systems were measured. Concurrent with the loss of viability in the axes of seeds dehydrated after 24 and 36 hours of imbibition, there were increases in both lipid peroxidation and solute leakage. Unscheduled drying was seen to be a critical stage, as intolerant axes showed four- to eightfold increases in lipid peroxidation, which were only partially reduced on subsequent rehydration. Tolerant axes, on the other hand, were able to maintain low, basal levels of lipid hydroperoxides on drying. The relationship between these observations and the antioxidant systems showed that the antioxidant enzymes CAT, ASC POD, AFR reductase, DHA reductase, guaiacol POD and SOD declined markedly during the unscheduled drying, whereas GSH and ASC declined only slightly. On rehydration, most of the enzymes, total glutathione, and total ascorbate pool increased, the only exception being the loss of ASC POD activity. ORA reductase, which was seen to decrease as a part of nonnal gennination, declined progressively also in H-D-R treatments. These results suggested that loss of viability was not attributable to a decline of the antioxidant systems but rather to the combined deleterious effects of increased lipid peroxidation, and a generalized and moderately compromised antioxidant system. These studies have indicated that the occurrence of lipid peroxidation can be seen as a nonnal part of seed development and gennination. The H-D-R studies, on the other hand, supported the concept that the balance between peroxidation reactions and the protective systems was critical to the development of desiccation tolerance. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Thesis (M. Tech. Agriculture) -- Central University of Technology, Free state, 2012 / A series of incubation studies and greenhouse experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of EM seed treatments, at different application levels, handling techniques and soil conditions on germination and seedling vigour of selected cultivars of maize, sorghum and sunflower. Two incubation studies were conducted to evaluate the germination and seedling vigour of maize, sorghum and sunflower seeds treated with M-EM from three different suppliers, multiplied at two different ratios (1% and 3%) and diluted at three different levels (0.01%, 0.1% and 1.0%) compared to a control treated with pure water. Results revealed no significant differences under optimum germination conditions, while seedlings under cold stress indicated that M-EM treatments positively affected germination and seedling vigour compared to the control treatments. Two incubation studies were also conducted to evaluate the germination and seedling vigour of maize, sorghum and sunflower seeds treated with M-EM from three different suppliers, multiplied at two different ratios (1% and 3%) and exposed to the influences of irradiation and temperature fluctuation. From the results became clear that the correct storage and handling is essential in optimizing the effect of M-EM on seeds. Even though M-EM was exposed to irradiation and temperature fluctuation, M-EM still had positive effects on germination and seedling vigour. Pot experiments were conducted to determine the effect of EM as seed treatment, at different dilutions, on germination, seedling vigour and dry mass of maize, sorghum and sunflower at different planted depths. Germination were not affected by the M-EM treatment, while shoot length results indicated that seed treated with M-EM could have significant effect on seedling survival. A greater effect was visible on the shoot length of shallow planted seeds, than on deeper planted seeds. From the results no single company, ratio or dilution could be prescribed as paramount. To further investigate the effect of M-EM subjected to the influences of irradiation and temperature fluctuation; maize, sorghum and sunflower seeds were treated with M-EM from three different suppliers, multiplied at two different ratios (1% and 3%) and exposed to the influences of irradiation and temperature fluctuation and planted in soil. M-EM treatments only benefited the germination of deeper planted sorghum seeds compared to the control treatments. The shoot lengths of deeper planted maize and sunflower seed were positively increased by the M-EM treatments while also resulting in significant results for the overall shoot length of sorghum. The third pot study was conducted to determine the influence of EM as a seed treatment on maize, sorghum and sunflower planted in three different soils, namely: sterilized soil, soil treated with M-EM and Fusarium containing soil. Germination and seedling vigour results of the sterilized and M-EM treated soil revealed to be superior to that of the Fusarium containing soil. From the results was concluded that M-EM treatments will probably improve early seedling growth of maize, sorghum and sunflower compared to untreated seed and that M-EM seed treatment and a pre-plant EM soil treatment might assist seeds in unfavourable germination and growth conditions.

The International Seed Testing Association and the Association of Official Seed analysts define seed vigour as the ability of a seed lot to perform during the germination process and crop stand establishment under a wide range of environmental conditions. There are many ways to determine seed vigour, but few satisfy the requirements of being simple, inexpensive and reproducible, among others, to permit the seed industry to adopt seed vigour as an indicator of seed quality when they sell seeds. Hence, the standard germination test, which is performed under uniform and favourable conditions, is generally used to indicate seed quality when seeds are marketed. The objective of this study was to determine the performance of tomato and pepper seeds in response to pre-germination hydration and dehydration relative humidities (12%, 49% and 75% RH). Before hydration, seeds were hydrated at three temperatures (10°C, 20°C and 30°C). Hydration was performed by imbibing pre-weighed pepper ('Santarini' and 'California Wonder'), Chilli and tomato ('Heinz', 'Marondera' and 'Roma') seeds for 2 h in 10 ml of distilled H(2)0 per 100 seeds at 10°C, 20°C and 30°C. Dehydration was performed by change in seed mass determined during a 72-hour dehydration at 12%, 49% and 75% RH. Seed performance in response to imbibition and dehydration was determined by leakage of electrolytes from seeds during imbibition, laboratory germination capacity and seedling emergence under simulated shadehouse nursery conditions. A pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of seed treatments on yield. Seed mass increased by about 50% during the 2-hour of hydration. Dehydration was hastened by decreasing the RH, and 12% RH significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the post-imbibition seed moisture content compared with 49% and 75% RH. The latter two relative humidities reduced the seed moisture content to about 10% and 15%, respectively, for all cultivars, irrespective of imbibition temperature. Low imbibition temperature (10°C) significantly (P < 0.01) increased electrolyte leakage, compared with high imbibition temperatures (20°C and 30°C), which were not significantly different from each other. At all hydration temperatures, low RH (12%) caused a significant (P < 0.01) decrease in seed germination whereas 49% RH and 75% RH apparently had a priming effect on seeds. There was no significant difference between imbibition temperatures, with respect to seed germination, but 100G caused a significant decrease in germination index, a measure of seed vigour. Seedling emergence was significantly (P < 0.01) reduced by both low imbibition temperature (10oG) and low dehydration relative humidity (12% RH). The negative effects of low imbibition temperature and rapid dehydration at 12% RH were also observed as stunted seedling growth. Principal component analysis and linear regression were used to determine a statistical model to predict seedling emergence from germination percentage. The model predicted emergence consistently, but it overestimated it by about 2% to 3%. It is concluded that low imbibition temperature and rapid dehydration can be used to simulate stress to determine seed performance in pepper and tomato. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.