Action of ferric and aluminium ions on the dormancy breakage of Stylosanthes humilis seeds

Abstract

Dormancy of scarified seeds of Stylosanthes humilis was broken by acidic Al3+ and Fe3+ solutions. Fe+3-stimulated seeds exhibited a high activity of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) oxidase and produced great amounts of ethylene, which showed correlated with the germination process. In addition, specific inhibitors of ethylene biosynthesis and action largely depressed the Fe3+-stimulated germination, leading to the conclusion that the ion broke dormancy by triggering ethylene production by the seeds. By contrast, inhibitors of ethylene biosynthesis and action did not impair germination of Al3+-stimulated dormant seeds. Moreover, ethylene production and activity of ACC oxidase of Al3+-treated seeds was substantially decreased by inhibitors of ethylene biosynthesis, but germination kept large. Together these data suggest that ethylene biosynthesis was not required in the chain of events triggered by Al3+ leading to dormancy breakage. Methyl viologen (MV), a reactive oxygen species-generating compound, broke dormancy of seeds to the same extent as Al3+ did. Germination of both Al3+- and MV-stimulated dormant seeds was inhibited by sodium selenate, an antioxidant compound; selenate, however had no effect on germination of Fe3+-stimulated seeds. Together these data indicate that the mechanisms underlying the germination of Al3+- and Fe3+-treated seeds are not the same.