Study On The Storage Characteristics And Its Physiological Mechanism Of Impatiens Balsamina L. Seeds

Impatiens balsamina L. originally growthed in India, China and Malaysia, is a kind of annual herbage plant with important medicine use and ornamental value. There were research reports about its cultivation technology, tissue culture and breeding by inducing variations, but the storage and germination characteristics and physiological activities in storage of seeds have less reported. Seed is the propagate organ of Impatiens balsamina L. Exploring a correct storage method will be very practical for prolonging the life of this germplasm in storage. In this paper the viability, vigor index and the changes of relative physiological characteristics with time under different storage conditions were studied.Germination test was carried out at regular intervals when the seeds of Impatiens balsamina L. were stored at three kinds of storage conditions, with drying silica gel (drying storage), open indoor condition (ordinary storage) and at low temperature in the refrigerator (low temperature storage). The results showed that the seeds under drying storage kept a higher germination percentage and germination index, and the vigor index of seeds tended to go higher. Although under ordinary storage the seeds could keep a high germination percentage and germination index, the vigor index decreased obviously and abnormal seedlings emerged after germination. Under low temperature storage, all of the germination percentage, the germination index and the vigor index of seeds decreased remarkably, and after germination, the seedling grew abnormal seriously, even inclined to death.The changes of the electric conductivity of Impatiens balsamina L. seeds under different storage conditions were measured, the result showed that the electric conductivity of Impatiens balsamina L. seeds all increased under three different conditions. However, stored for same space, the seeds under low temperature storage had the highest electric conductivity, the seeds under drying storage showed the lowest electric conductivity, while the electric conductivity of those under ordinary storage was at the mid. It was suggested that drying state is helpful to maintain the membrane of seeds stable, while low temperature is harmful to its integrity.Treated for 10 d by artificial ageing, the seeds under ordinary storage and low temperature storage lost viability and the value of electric conductivity increased largely. In contrast, the seeds under drying silica gel storage displayed the ability of resisting ageing, some of them still survived after 10 d of artificial ageing and the electric conductivity of seeds increased slightly.The seeds under ordinary storage and low temperature storage had higher water content and the soluble sugar of seeds gradually decreased, it's suggested these seeds had stronger respiratory metabolic activity, so they consumed more carbohydrates. While the seeds under drying silica gel storage had more double sugar and lower water content, which might play a role to keep the integrity of cell membrane.Moreover, the activity of SOD, CAT enzyme of seeds under drying silica gel storage was obviously higher than that of the seeds in ordinary storage and low temperature storage, while the TBARS content displayed a contrary change. The results showed that the seeds under drying silica gel storage kept a better antioxidant system to protect the membrane system from damaged than that in ordinary storage and low temperature storage.