Dynamic Study Of Physiological And Biochemical During The Seed Developmental Stages Of Schisandra Sphenanthera Rehd. Et Wils.

Schisandra sphenanthera Rehd. et Wils. (S. sphenanthera) is a kind of woody, deciduous liana plant of Schisandra Michx of Schisandraceae. The ripe and dry fruits of S. sphenanthera (Mandarin Chinese: nan-wu-wei-zi, literal English translation: southern five-taste fruit) have been a well-known Traditional Chinese Medicine more than two thousand years. With further exploitation on medicinal value of S. sphenanthera, the market demand of it has increased year by year. Since 2006,our laboratory have done a lot of investigations on the gennplasm resources of S. sphenanthera in some counties of Gansu. Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces respectively. The results of investigations have shown that Shaanxi Province is a primary production area for S. sphenanthera. Moreover, in Shaanxi, S. sphenanthera. are mainly distributed among the Qinling mountain in Shaanxi Province, taking wild resources. as its main parts. Recent years, many druggist has takeover stock- up by going to producing area themselves to meet the market demand for S. sphenanthera.. This behavior has resulted that the fruits of S. sphenanthera. were excessive picked and even large-scale looted at green fruit stages. In this case, severe damage has been caused to wild sources of S. sphenanthera..In order that wild resources of S. sphenanthera. were sustainable utilization, is necessary to enlarge the resource extent of S. sphenanthera. by wildlife tending and artificial propagation. Seed propagation is the main system to the population regeneration of S. sphenanthera.. Seed formation, development and maturity can directly affect the S. sphenanthera. population regeneration. In addition, artificial supplementary transplanting by seed seedling is the main means of wildlife tending. However, the long dormant period and low seed germination rate of S. sphenanthera.seed foemed an obstacle to seed seedling of S. sphenanthera., and it is also the technical problem for artificial planting and cultivation. Thus, studying on the key stages of 5. sphenanthera.life cycle and recognizing its growth and development become an important content in S. sphenanthera biological characteristics research.In this paper, we have taken the S. sphenanthera wild growing in the Fenghuang town of Zhashui county in Shaanxi province as the research object, the changes of seed morphology and main physiological and biochemical indexes during different seed developmental stages were studied. The main conclusions are as follows:1. Significant changes were observed in the seed length, seed width, seed thickness, seed size and color of seed coat in different developmental stages of S. sphenanthera. seed. The size of S. sphenanthera. seed rapidly increased during twenty days to thirty days after full-bloom stage. The color of seed coat is closely related to the developmental stages of S. sphenanthera. seed, and it varied successively from milkiness, light yellow, yellow, light brown to brown since ten days to eighty days after full-bloom stage. The changes in shape of S. sphenanthera. seed in different developmental stages were not significant. Since twenty days after full-bloom stage, it has changed to reniform which is the shape of mature seeds, and then suspended this shape during the rest developmental stages.2. Both of absolute water content and relative water content decreased with the development of S. sphenanthera. seed. The absolute water content and relative water content are 40.62% and 28.88% respectively. Maturation drying was observed during the developmental stages of S. sphenanthera. seed, so it should be considered as orthodox seed.3. Soluble sugar content of S. sphenanthera. seed increased during ten days to sixty days after full-bloom stage, and the maximum soluble sugar content were detected in sixty days after full-bloom stage. Soluble protein content of S. sphenanthera. seed increased during the whole developmental stages. The increasing range of soluble protein content reduced since sixty days after full-bloom stage. The maximum soluble sugar content appeared in eighty days after full-bloom stage.4. SOD activity and POD activity of S. sphenanthera. seed present regular changes with the development of S. sphenanthera. seed. SOD activity increased during ten to twenty days and thirty to fifty days after full-bloom stage. The maximum SOD activity appeared in fifty days after full-bloom stage. POD activity remained stable during ten to twenty days and thirty to fifty days after full-bloom stage, but increased during twenty to thirty days and fifty to seventy days after full-bloom stage. The maximum POD activity appeared in seventy days after full-bloom stage.5. Changes endogenous GA₃ content of S. sphenanthera. seed during the whole developmental stages present a trends of increased at first and then decreased. The endogenous GA₃ content reached the maximum at thirty days after full-bloom stage, and then gradually decreased since seventy days after full-bloom stage. The endogenous IAA content reached the maximum at thirty days after full-bloom stage, and then rapidity decreased to fifty days after full-bloom stage. From fifty days to eighty days after full-bloom stage, endogenous IAA content showed increased at first and then decreased again. The minimum endogenous IAA content appear at eighty days after full-bloom stage over whole developmental stages. Endogenous ABA increased during ten to thirty and fifty to seventy days after full-bloom stage respectively, and reached minimum at seventy days after full-bloom stage.