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Theme: Science of Ageing

DNA is intact in viable seeds and dead seeds show ‘DNA laddering’. This is part of a program by which cells ‘commit suicide’ (programmed cell death). In this way, DNA is cleaved into small fragments. First lane: 100-basepair marker. From left to right: viable to dead seeds. (taken from Kranner et al. Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine 40: 2155-2165, with permission from Elsevier)

Dried collections of seeds for conservation and agricultural purposes total around 6 million globally. However, all seeds eventually die making them good model systems for investigations into complex living / death processes in integrated systems (see also 'Preservation Technology'). Importantly, the value of understanding organisms not as isolated parts but as integrated systems has been emphasised by HM Government by the inclusion of ‘Systems biology (complexity of life)’ as one of six exemplars of multidisciplinary research (1). Explanations are required for why seeds of different species have variable longevity under identical storage conditions, and whether the processes of ageing (dying) are ultimately the same under different storage conditions. Only with such insight will extrapolated predictions of seed performance at sub-zero temperatures be more certain than at present.

Significant achievements and outputs (2000-2005)

Two major reviews on seed longevity in the dry state were delivered, including the introduction of new seed storage ‘terms’. A universal marker for plant cell viability based on the glutathione redox state was identified, and subsequently its use was validated for other systems, e.g. fungi, algae. The role of telomere and other DNA-related damage in seed ageing was assessed. A one-step fitting method for seed longevity data was validated. Water relations of seed ageing in two species was characterised. The importance of membrane phase behaviour in seed viability loss was revealed.

Projects on this theme:

• Biophysical Aspects of Seed Ageing (Orthodox Seeds)
• Do 'Intermediate' Seeds Exist? Towards a Mechanistic Understanding of Cold Stress
• Ex situ Conservation of Recalcitrant Seeds: Towards the Delivery of Target 8 of the GSPC
• Oxidative Stress and Death Phenomena
• Programmed Cell Death in Seeds
• Seed Viability and Ageing Defined by the Intra-Cellular 'Redox Environment'

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