Resistance of wild plants seeds from Sakhalin Oblast to ultra-low temperatures

Abstract

We studied the response of seeds of 58 plant species to deep freezing in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of minus 196 °C. The seeds were collected on Sakhalin Island, Moneron Island and Kuril Islands: Kunashir, Paramushir, Urup, Iturup, Shikotan, Simushir, Chyornye Bratya, Shumshu, Ketoi, Shiashkotan, Kharimkotan, Ushishir. All studied seeds were of the orthodox type (seed moisture content was lesser than 12%). Seed viability was assessed by laboratory germination. It was shown that the seeds did not die after freezing. For 70.4% of the studied samples the seed germination level after freezing remained at the control level, for 19.7% it was higher than in the control group (which indicates the stimulating eff ect of liquid nitrogen), for 9.9% of the samples the germination was lower than in the control group. The morphology of seedlings obtained from the seeds that had been frozen did not diff er from the control group