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bigdog · 03-01-2007, 10:55 PM

Gabe, those are great pics, and a nice diagram. Your middle picture shows the embryo very nicely. I wonder if you could highlight it?

I have some difficulty understanding something about imbibing Musa seeds. I have McGahan's 1961 Anatomy of the Seed and Embryo of Musa Balbisiana in front of me here, and was reading part of it where it talks about the inner integument (not pictured in your diagram). He states that "when the (micropylar) plug is removed by hand, the inner integument frequently remains in place and appears as a small, beaked cap..." He also says, right before that, that the portion of the inner integument that surrounds the micropyle is forced out with the plug at germination. What this leads me to believe is that if you do not remove the micropylar plug, that the inner integument (which surrounds the endosperm and comes into full contact with the embryo) will remain intact, and prevent water from penetrating to the endosperm. In the scarification study that I referenced, a lateral portion of the seed coat was removed, exposing the endosperm, and placed with the exposed side directly on the agar. Removing the micropylar plug doesn't aid in germination at all, and as Gabe says, you could injure the embryo and kill the seed.
I have seen references to unpublished findings that chipping the seed coat did aid in germination (Don't have that in front of me though...I'd have to dig for it). There were no details provided, just a simple reference with the date 1960. Just a few years before, Simmonds had reported no success with scarification.

Anyway, I look forward to your results, Allen!

03-01-2007, 10:55 PM	#13 (permalink)
bigdog ******* bigdog's Photo Gallery** Location: Gainesville, FL Find me on the map! Zone: 8b Name: Frank Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2,004 BananaBucks : 892,238 Feedback: 7 / 100% Said "Thanks" 218 Times Was Thanked 1,789 Times in 504 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 131 Times	Re: Musa Velutina Experiment Gabe, those are great pics, and a nice diagram. Your middle picture shows the embryo very nicely. I wonder if you could highlight it? I have some difficulty understanding something about imbibing Musa seeds. I have McGahan's 1961 Anatomy of the Seed and Embryo of Musa Balbisiana in front of me here, and was reading part of it where it talks about the inner integument (not pictured in your diagram). He states that "when the (micropylar) plug is removed by hand, the inner integument frequently remains in place and appears as a small, beaked cap..." He also says, right before that, that the portion of the inner integument that surrounds the micropyle is forced out with the plug at germination. What this leads me to believe is that if you do not remove the micropylar plug, that the inner integument (which surrounds the endosperm and comes into full contact with the embryo) will remain intact, and prevent water from penetrating to the endosperm. In the scarification study that I referenced, a lateral portion of the seed coat was removed, exposing the endosperm, and placed with the exposed side directly on the agar. Removing the micropylar plug doesn't aid in germination at all, and as Gabe says, you could injure the embryo and kill the seed. I have seen references to unpublished findings that chipping the seed coat did aid in germination (Don't have that in front of me though...I'd have to dig for it). There were no details provided, just a simple reference with the date 1960. Just a few years before, Simmonds had reported no success with scarification. Anyway, I look forward to your results, Allen!