Abscisic Acid and Precocious Germination in Soybeans

Abstract

Immature embryos of soybeans (Glycine max L. Merr.) can be induced to germinate precociously by depleting the endogenous pool of abscisic acid (ABA). Washing the embryos or allowing the embryos to dry slowly within or out of detached pods causes a gradual decline in ABA content. The extent of germination is correlated with the length of washing or drying treatments, which in turn, affects the level of endogenous ABA. Providing embryos are three weeks of age or older, maturation and precocious germination can be induced by treating embryos in a way that causes a reduction in embryo ABA content. Drying is not an obligatory requirement for soybean seed maturation or germination.