NCGRP Plant Research Unit Laboratories

Cryobiology of Vegetative Tissues | Cryobiology of Cells
Seed Quality and Biophysics | Population Genetics

Biophysical and physiological aspects of seed development and quality

Lab Mission

Promote survival of plant embryos in genebanks and predict susceptibility to freezing, desiccation and aging stresses through an understanding of the genetic and environmental components that contribute to seed quality.

Staff

Christina Walters	Principal Investigator
Jennifer Crane	Plant Physiologist - physiology of seeds, identification of seed storage behavior , development of cryopreservation protocols for recalcitrant seeds
Lisa Hill	Mechanisms of desiccation tolerance and seed deterioration in storage
Lana Wheeler	Long-term storage of seeds and historical experiments
Hector Perez	(Ph.D. candidate) – seed development and ecological significance of the physiology of Pritchardia species.

Selected Research Projects

Identification and preservation of species with non-orthodox seed storage characteristics
Effects of temperature and moisture content on the biophysical properties of water and its relevance to survival and longevity of phylogenetically diverse organisms
Optimizing protocols to store seed germplasm
How long do seeds survive in conventional and cryogenic storage?
The basis for seed recalcitrance: studies of the development and physiology of Zizania species
Genetic and environmental factors that contribute to seed longevity in genebanks
Non-invasive methods to detect the early stages of seed aging

Publication Highlights

Crane, J., A.L. Miller, J.W. van Roekel, and C. Walters. 2003. Triacylglycerols determine the unusual storage physiology of Cuphea seed. Planta 217:699-708.

Wesley-Smith, J. C. Walters, P. Berjak, and N.W. Pammenter. 2004. The influence of cytoplasmic viscosity, cooling and warming rate upon survival of embryonic axes of Poncirus trifolata (L.).CryoLetters 25:129-138.

Walters, C., L.M. Hill, and L.M. Wheeler. 2005. Dying while dry: Kinetics and mechanisms of deterioration in desiccated organisms. J. of Comparative and Integrative Biology (submitted).

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