Effect of Water Stress, Seed Coat Restraint, and Abscisic Acid upon Different Germination Capabilities of Two Tomato Lines at Low Temperature 1

Two tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) lines with greatly different capabilities to germinate at 10°C were compared with respect to sensitivity to experimental treatments which affect the water status of the embryo. Germination rates and final percentages could be drastically changed (at 25°C) by (a) removing the mechanical constraint from the radicle tip, (b) imposing water stress by an osmoticum, (c) stress hardening of the seeds through osmotic pretreatment, and (d) inhibiting embryo expansion by abscisic acid (ABA). All treatments showed a similar difference in germination vigor between the two lines indicating that cold sensitivity is in fact a matter of water relations rather than of phase transitions in membrane lipids. Inhibition of germination by ABA was completely abolished by removing the mechanical constraint from the radicle tip. Osmotic stress of −3 bar which quantitatively replaced this constraint in inhibiting germination also restored the sensitivity to ABA. It is concluded that all these treatments act on the balance between the hydraulic extension force of the embryo radicle and the opposing force of the seed layers covering the radicle tip. The difference in cold sensitivity between the two seed lines resides either in the osmotic potential or the pressure potential of the germinating embryo.