Figure 8.

A schematic illustration of the osmopriming-induced factors affecting the kinetics of water uptake and, consequently, the water status of B. napus seeds during post-priming germination. The primed dried seeds are characterized by the presence of (i) more air-filled spaces between the embryo organs resulting in the bigger size of seeds and (ii) an altered seed coat structure, which facilitates faster and easier hydration of the seeds during post-priming germination. Moreover, during the priming procedure as well as during seed germination later, the enhanced vacuolization process of cotyledon cells and the modification of the gene expression pattern of the plasmalemma AQPs are observed.