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. 1978 Oct;62(4):473–476. doi: 10.1104/pp.62.4.473

Effects of Ethylene and Carbon Dioxide on the Germination of Osmotically Inhibited Lettuce Seed 1,2

Fayek B Negm 1, Orrin E Smith 1
PMCID: PMC1092153  PMID: 16660541

Abstract

Lettuce seeds (Lactuca sativa L.) used in this study germinated 98% at 25 C in light or dark. Their germination was completely inhibited by 0.20 m NaCl, 0.35 m mannitol, or polyethylene glycol 6000 (−7 bars) under continuous light when germination tests were made in Petri dishes. Approximately 50% germination occurred in sealed flasks due to endogenously produced C2H4 and CO2. Removal of either or both gases prevented germination. In the presence of endogenous CO2, addition of C2H4 (0.5 to 16 microliters/liter) stimulated 95 to 100% germination (after 5 days) only in the light, but the rate of germination was dependent on C2H4 concentration. At 16 microliters/liter C2H4, full germination occurred within 72 hours. Addition of up to 3.2% CO2 had no adverse effect on the C2H4 action. Higher concentrations or the complete absence of CO2 reduced both rate and total germination. CO2 alone was ineffective.

Under these osmotic conditions the promotive effect of C2H4 was under the control of phytochrome.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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