Control of Seed Germination by Abscisic Acid: I. Time Course of Action in Sinapis alba L.

The germination process of mustard seeds (Sinapis alba L.) has been characterized by the time courses of water uptake, rupturing of the seed coat (12 hours after sowing), onset of axis growth (18 hours after sowing), and the point of no return, where the seeds lose the ability to survive redesiccation (12 to 24 hours after sowing, depending on embryo part). Abscisic acid (ABA) reversibly arrests embryo development at the brink of radicle growth initiation, inhibiting the water uptake which accompanies embryo growth. Seeds which have been kept dormant by ABA for several days will, after removal of the hormone, rapidly take up water and continue the germination process. Seeds which have been preincubated in water lose the sensitivity to be arrested by ABA after about 12 hours after sowing. This escape from ABA-mediated dormancy is not due to an inactivation of the hormone but to a loss of competence to respond to ABA during the course of germination. The sensitivity to ABA can be restored in these seeds by redrying. It is concluded that a primary action of ABA in inhibiting seed germination is the control of water uptake of the embryo tissues rather than the control of DNA, RNA, or protein syntheses.