THIOLS AND DISULPHIDES IN QUIESCENT AND GERMINATING BARLEY GRAINS, BOTH DORMANT AND MATURE

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Abstract
Reduced and oxidised glutathione, cysteine, cystine and traces (too small to quantify) of γ-glutamyl-cysteine and cysteinylglycine were detected, in about the same amounts, in extracts of the embryos of dormant and mature barleys. During micromalting the levels of the thiols and disulphides altered in various ways, but altered in the same ways in dormant and mature samples of grain until germination began. An early decline in the glutathione content of embryos was mirrored by a rise in the amount in degermed grains. Histochemical tests and analyses of isolated tissues showed that in the quiescent grains thiols were concentrated in the embryo (particularly the scutellum) and in the aleurone layer and isolated embryos released thiols into an incubation medium. We conclude that the endogenous thiols and disulphides are not obviously involved in the regulation of dormancy.