Does anyone have any experience with testing the viability of aquatic macrophyte seeds (in particular Potamogeton and Ranunculacae) ? Is a tetrazolium stain effective, and if so should the seeds be cut / dissected / pierced before hand?
Hi Emily.
Because tetrazolium reacts with dehyrdogenase enzymes in living cells, the test should be entirely suitable for testing aquatic macrophyte seeds. In terms of seed preparation, seeds can be soaked prior to testing, or left between wet blotter paper to imbibe some moisture. This will ensure that living cells are respiring fully and that the test will be at its most effective. Seeds are then dissected either transversely or longitudinally prior to immersion in tetrazolium solution. I would suggest dissecting a few seeds in advance to find the best plane of dissection for your purposes.
I hope this helps.
Aleks
I followed this protocol for analyzing seeds of 3 plant species:
You have to watch out with TTZ: don't inhale (work in a fume hood) and were gloves! You can find more information in a paper of mine: "Biomass of invasive plant species as a potential feedstock for bioenergy production" in Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. The steps of the TTZ test are included in supporting material 1 of that paper.
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