Inverse Correlation between ABA Content and Germinability throughout the Maturation and theIn VitroCulture of the Embryo ofPhaseolus vulgaris

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Abstract
Prevost, I. and Le Page-Degivry, M. Th. 1985. Inverse correlation between ABA content and germinability throughout the maturation and the in vitro culture of the embryo of Phaseolus vulgaris.—J. exp. Bot. 36: 1457–1464. Changes in embryo abscisic acid (ABA) content during the maturation of the seed of Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Contender were followed, using a radio-immunoassay. The pattern of change is similar to that already described in several species: a rapid increase (from the 18th to 29th day after anthesis), was followed by a decrease, the ABA level being ten times lower on the 48th day than on the 29th. Embryos isolated from the 18th to the 48th day after anthesis were able to ‘germinate’ when cultivated on a mineral medium supplemented with sucrose and agar. The development pattern varied throughout the embryogenesis and could be correlated with the differentiation of the embryo at the time of isolation. Before germination could take place, we observed a lag phase, the duration of which could be correlated with embryo ABA content. As ABA content increased in the youngest embryos the duration of the lag phase increased. In the same way, the number of days to germination was shown to diminish as ABA content decreased. Inverse correlation between ABA content and germinability was thus demonstrated throughout the development of the embryo. During in vitro culture, free ABA content decreased in the embryo and reached low values a few days before germination occurred. So the beginning of root elongation in culture was again well correlated with the disappearance of free endogenous ABA. A transfer experiment inducing an earlier germination associated with a more limited development suggests that the lag phase is associated with an active continuation of embryonic development

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