Early Germination Response of Soybean Seed to Accelerated Aging and Low Dose Gamma Irradiation

The responses of soybean seeds were evaluated to accelerated aging and gamma irradiation with regard to germination, seed leakage, seed leachate component and dry weight of hypocotyl and primary root of the germinating seed. Accelerated aging significantly reduced the final germination rate while gamma irradiation increased the final germination rate. Furthermore, the interactive effects occurred that the final germination rate of 5-day aged seeds increased considerably in response to 4 Gy of gamma irradiation. The extent to which the electrolyte was leaked from the seeds (conductivity) was significantly affected by accelerated aging and showed a close negative correlation with the germination rate. Gamma irradiation, however, did not significantly affect the electrical conductivity of seed leachate. The accelerated aging significantly increased the concentrations of the particular electrolytes leaked from the seeds while the gamma irradiation did not affect those concentrations. Of the electrolytes leaked from the seeds, Ca and Mg showed relatively lower concentrations while K showed greater concentrations than others. Moreover, N and P showed similar responses to aging treatment. Aging treatment significantly affected dry weight (DW) of hypocotyls and primary root. Also, gamma irradiation decreased DW of hypocotyls and primary root, particularly for 8 Gy associated with 5 days aging treatment. The data were discussed in terms of the relationships of seed vigor with aging treatment and gamma irradiation.