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Desiccation

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Stress and Stress Co** in Cultivated Plants

Abstract

Tolerance of desiccation is relatively rare in plants but is obvious in seeds and pollen. Desiccation is considered by some to be a necessary prerequisite for the completion of the life cycle in species producing seeds that are “orthodox” with regard to their ability to withstand storage at low moisture. Other species do not exhibit maturation drying of their seeds, and are instead “recalcitrant”. This latter group includes many tropical trees, aquatic grasses and a few temperate species, such as oak and sycamore (Farrant et al. 1993). Another example of desiccation tolerance is pollen that in many species can be stored dry for years (Hoekstra 1986). Mosses also have cycles of hydration and dehydration (Bewley 1979). A final and more rare example are the so-called “resurrection” plants which as whole plants withstand the loss of cellular water and return to active metabolism and growth on rehydration (Bartels et al. 1990). In crop plants, however, desiccation tolerance is important principally in pollination, seed development and germination.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crop Science Department, University of Guelph, NIG 2W1, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Bryan D. Mckersie (Professor)

  2. Department of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, 52900, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Ya’acov Y. Leshem (Professor of Plant Physiology)

Authors
  1. Bryan D. Mckersie
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  2. Ya’acov Y. Leshem
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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Mckersie, B.D., Leshem, Y.Y. (1994). Desiccation. In: Stress and Stress Co** in Cultivated Plants. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3093-8_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3093-8_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4400-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-3093-8

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