Seed Physiology: Development

Front Cover
David Ronald Murray, David R. Murray
Academic Press, 1984 - Nature - 279 pages
The seed and survival. The evolution of seed-bearing plants. Identification of wild progenitors of crop species. The process of domestication. The importance of conserving genetic diversity. The carbon and nitrogen nutrition of fruit and seed - case studies of selected grain legumes. Fruit nutrition in relation to ontogenetic profiles for assimilation and partitioning of carbon and nitrogen in the whole plant. Translocatory pathways for photosynthetically fixed carbon in fruiting plants. Quantitative studies of transfer of photosynthetically fixed carbon to fruits. The photosynthetic activity of fruits. Identification of the major solutes that supply carbon and nitrogen to fruits in xylem and phloem. The origin of assimilates for fruits and seeds as determined by short-term isotope labelling studies. Partitioning of carbon and nitrogen in the whole plant and the nutrition of fruits and seeds. The water economy of fruits and its integration with fruit carbon and nitrogen nutrition. The conversion of imported solutes into seed reserves. Accumulation of seed reserves of nitrogen. Albumins. Lectins. Seed proteinase inhibitors. Timing of reserve protein synthesis. Protein accumulation in protein bodies. Processing of seed reserve proteins. Accumulation of seed reserves of phosphorus and other minerals. Distributions of mineral reserves within seeds. Influence of external soil conditions on mineral levels in seeds. Calcium-rich crystals. Procedures for studying minerals in seeds. Future research. The synthesis of reserve oligosaccharides and polysaccharides in seeds. Synthesis of storage lipids in developing seeds. Occurrence and composition of storage lipids. Formation of fatty acids from sucrose. Changes in lipid composition and content during seed development. Triacyglycerol synthesis in developing seeds. Composition and origin of oil bodies. Environmental effects on the fatty acid composition of oil seed lipids. Toxic compounds in seeds. The alkaloids. Cyanogenic compounds. Non-cyanogenic nitriles. Non-protein amino acids. Amines. Saponins. Glucosinolates. Miscellaneous toxins. Possible roles of toxic compounds in seeds. Seed toxins and the development of food and fodder crops.

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The Seed and Survival
7
ix
21
IV
34
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