Figure 2.

(A) The kinetics of water uptake during the germination of unprimed (UP) and primed (P) B. napus seeds. Detailed information is deposited below the chart; the differences between the means of the primed and unprimed seeds in each examined time point were statistically significant at p < 0.05 (*), p < 0.01 (**), or p < 0.001 (***) according to the t-test (n = 3). (B) The seed diameters of the unprimed and primed seeds before the start of germination (dry unprimed seeds, UP_d; primed non-dried seeds, P_nd; and primed dried seeds, P_d) and during germination (unprimed seeds germinating 7 h, UP₇; and primed seeds germinating 7 h, P₇). Each value is a mean of 10 replicates (100 seeds per each), and the vertical bars denote SD. The differences were statistically significant, as determined by the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey–Kramer Multiple Comparison Test at p < 0.01. The same letters on the bars indicate insignificant differences between the means. (C) Photographs of the dry unprimed seeds (UP_d) and primed dried seeds (P_d) after removing the seed coat. The arrows indicate the enlarged void spaces between cotyledons and between each cotyledon and embryonic axis in the dry seeds after the osmopriming treatment. The bars represent 200 µm.