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Aerated hydration (AH) treatments of cauliflower seeds for 12 h (12AH) and 28 h (28AH) at 20 degrees C resulted in improved or reduced storage potential of low or high vigour seeds, respectively. Seeds were stored at their initial seed moisture content (mean 5.5% mc) or at 12% mc at 10 degrees C for 12 months and at 20 degrees C for 4 months. The improved longevity of low vigour seeds was associated with increased K(i) (initial seed viability) and a reduced rate of deterioration (1/sigma) whereas the K(i) of high vigour seeds fell after 28AH and the rate of deterioration increased such that the time to lose one probit of viability decreased from 28.7 to 5.3 months at 10 degrees C and from 10.4 to 1.2 months at 20 degrees C. The improved K(i) of low vigour seeds could be explained by the reduction in the extent of deterioration after AH, as indicated by the increase in germination after cotrolled deterioration (CD), and the possible activation of metabolic repair during treatment. In contrast the reduced germination after CD of AH-treated high vigour seeds was indicative of deterioration as a result of treatment. Both high and low vigour seeds contained constitutive levels of ss-tubulin which increased during AH treatment, the increase being greater in high vigour seeds. High vigour seeds also showed an increase in the proportion of nuclear DNA present as 4C DNA, from 3% (untreated seeds) to 26% (28AH), indicative of germination advancement from the G(1) to G(2) phase of the cell cycle during treatment. This higher proportion of 4C DNA is correlated with the increased sensitivity of seeds to drying and/or storage after AH, leading to their reduced K(i) and storage potential. In contrast, there was little change in %4C in low vigour seeds. Priming in polyethylene glycol (PEG, -1.0 MPa) for 5 d or 13 d also improved the longevity of low vigour seeds stored at their initial and 12% mc at 10 degrees C for 8 months, as reflected in their laboratory and CD germination. In this case, however, the improved longevity of the low vigour seeds following 13 d priming was associated with an increase in 4C DNA from 4% (dry control) to 56% after treatment. The germination of both untreated and primed high vigour seeds remained high throughout the storage period. Increases in the rate of germination (decreased mean germination time) observed after all AH and PEG treatments were not consistently associated with an increase in the proportion of nuclei containing 4C DNA.

We studied cell cycle events in embryos of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv Moneymaker) seeds during imbibition in water and during osmoconditioning ("priming") using both quantitative and cytological analysis of DNA synthesis and beta-tubulin accumulation. Most embryonic nuclei of dry, untreated control seeds were arrested in the G(1) phase of the cell cycle. This indicated the absence of DNA synthesis (the S-phase), as confirmed by the absence of bromodeoxyuridine incorporation. In addition, beta-tubulin was not detected on western blots and microtubules were not present. During imbibition in water, DNA synthesis was activated in the radicle tip and then spread toward the cotyledons, resulting in an increase in the number of nuclei in G(2). Concomitantly, beta-tubulin accumulated and was assembled into microtubular cytoskeleton networks. Both of these cell cycle events preceded cell expansion and division and subsequent growth of the radicle through the seed coat. The activation of DNA synthesis and the formation of microtubular cytoskeleton networks were also observed throughout the embryo when seeds were osmoconditioned. However, this pre-activation of the cell cycle appeared to become arrested in the G(2) phase since no mitosis was observed. The pre-activation of cell cycle events in osmoconditioned seeds appeared to be correlated with enhanced germination performance during re-imbibition in water.

The activation of the cell cycle in embryo root tips of imbibing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv Lerica) seeds was studied by flow cytometric analyses of the nuclear DNA content and by immunodelection of [beta]-tubulin. With dry seeds, flow cytometric profiles indicated that the majority of the cells were arrested at the G1 phase of the cell cycle. In addition, [beta]-tubulin was not detectable on western blots. Upon imbibition of water, the number of cells in G2 started to increase after 24 h, and a 55-kD [beta]-tubulin signal was detected between 24 and 48 h. Two-dimensional immunoblots revealed at least three different [beta]-tubulin isotypes. Thus, [beta]-tubulin accumulation and DNA replication were induced during osmotic priming. These processes, as well as seed germination rate, were enhanced upon subsequent imbibition of water, compared with control seeds that imbibed but were not primed. By contrast, when aged seeds imbibed, DNA replication, [beta]-tubulin accumulation, and germination were delayed. In all cases studied, both DNA replication and [beta]-tubulin accumulation preceded visible germination. We suggest that activation of these cell-cycle-related processes is a prerequisite for tomato seed germination. Furthermore, [beta]-tubulin expression can be used as a parameter for following the initial processes that are activated during seed imbibition.

As part of our research to develop an alternative system for the transformation of recalcitrant plant species we investigated the use of the male gametophyte as a transformation vector. Therefore the activity of four different promoters (CaMV 35S, LAT52, chiA PA2 and TR2') was analyzed in pollen of a dicot (Nicotiana glutinosa) and a monocot (Lilium longiflorum) plant species. Gene constructs in which the ß-glucuronidase (GUS) gene was placed under the control of these promoters were introduced in pollen using a particle delivery system. No activity of the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (CaMV) 35S promoter was detected in pollen of both N. glutinosa and L. longiflorum. The promoter of the tomato flower-specific LAT52 gene was highly active in N. glutinosa pollen but remained silent in L. longiflorum pollen. A similar expression pattern was observed for the pollen-specific Chalcone Flavanone Isomerase chiA PA2 promoter originally isolated from petunia. The TR2' mannopine synthase promoter of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, however, was active in pollen from Solanaceous species and also in pollen from the monocot L. longiflorum. This suggests that the TR2' promoter is active in vegetative and sporogenous tissues of dicot and monocot plant species.

Effects of the phytotoxic compounds (AAL-toxins) isolated from cell-free culture filtrates of Alternaria alternata f.sp. lycopersici on in vitro pollen development were studied. AAL-toxins inhibited both germination and tube growth of pollen from several Lycopersicon genotypes. Pollen from susceptible genotypes, however, was more sensitive for AAL-toxins than pollen from resistant plants, while pollen of species not belonging to the host range of the fungus was not significantly affected by the tested toxin concentrations. AAL-toxins elicit symptoms in detached leaf bioassays indistinguishable from those observed on leaves of fungal infected tomato plants, and toxins play a major role in the pathogenesis. Apparently, pathogenesis-related processes and mechanisms involved in disease resistance are expressed in both vegetative and generative tissues. This overlap in gene expression between the sporophytic and gametophytic level of a plant may be advantageously utilized in plant breeding programmes. Pollen may be used to distinguish susceptible and resistant plants and to select for resistances and tolerances against phytotoxins and other selective agents.

The effect of environmental factors on the reversion rates of several unstable alleles in Petunia hybrida was investigated. It is demonstrated that the reversion frequency of three unstable alleles, viz. an allele of gene An1 and of gene An11, both involved in anthocyanin synthesis, and of gene Yg3 for leaf colour, is drastically reduced when the temperature is raised from 18 °C to 25 °C. For two of the alleles it was established that this temperature effect is reversible. Changing the light period or light intensity did not have an effect on the reversion rate of the unstable allele of gene An11 at 18 °C or at 25 °C. The results found are in contrast with those obtained in earlier experiments, in which a rise in temperature resulted in an increase in the reversion rate of another unstable allele of gene An1.

Effects of kanamycin on pollen germination and tube growth of pollen from non-transformed plants and from transgenic tomato plants containing a chimaeric kanamycin resistance gene were determined. Germination of pollen was not affected by the addition of kanamycin to the medium in both genotypes. Kanamycin, however, severely affected tube growth of pollen from non-transformed plants, while pollen from plants containing the chimaeric gene were less sensitive and produced significantly longer tubes at kanamycin concentrations between 200-400 mgl-1. Apparently, this resistance for kanamycin correlates with the expression of the chimaeric gene during male gametophytic development.

A comparative histological study is made of microsporogenesis in fertile, cytoplasmic male sterile and restored fertilePetunia. Microsporogenesis in sterile anthers proceeds normally until leptotene. The development of the restored fertile type at 25°C is normal until the tetrad stage. In both types sporogenesis arrests and the meiocytes, c.q. microspores ultimately degenerate. The first phenomena of deviation are found in the tapetum. The effects of degeneration on cellular structure, vacuolation and cytoplasmic organization of the tapetal and sporogenous cells are variable. The deposition of callose around the meiocytes appears independent of the process of degeneration. The absence of an increase in callase activity possibly explains the remnants of callose found at late stages of development. The failure of callose wall dissolution appears to be the result of metabolic abnormalities in the tapetum and is regarded as an indirect effect of sterility.