Damaging Effect of Drying on Vicia faba Seeds

Abstract

IN studies of radiation damage in seeds it has been shown that very dry seeds are more radiosensitive than seeds of medium water content^1,2. This finding initiated a number of detailed investigations into the radiobiology of very dry seeds to obtain further information on the damaging mechanism of the radiation^3–5. It has generally been assumed in these studies that drying itself has no harmful effect on the seeds and, for the frequently used barley, this certainly seems to be true according to Caldecott¹, Ehrenberg² and Wellington (personal communication). In other species, however, the situation may be rather more complicated. Thus in an earlier paper⁶ it has been shown that drying of Vicia faba seeds over calcium chloride at 20° C. for 14 days reduces germinability to about 60 per cent and slows down root and shoot growth considerably. Further study of these effects is clearly most important for radiation work in seeds. The effects in Vicia faba seeds have, therefore, been investigated in rather more detail.