Figure 3

High concentrations of glucose nearly eliminate breakdown of seed storage lipids. Seedlings were grown on the indicated media for 14 or 22 days prior to collection for fatty acid analysis. The majority of seedlings grown on 0.27 M glucose, 0.3 M glucose or 0.4 M sorbitol + 0.03 M glucose exhibit arrested development. However, some of the seedlings grown on these media escape the selection, as shown by development of relatively normal shoot systems, and were not collected for analysis. Seedlings grown on 0.03 M glucose, 0.24 M sorbitol + 0.03 M glucose or 0.27 M sorbitol + 0.03 M glucose exhibit a nearly uniform morphology, and so all seedlings from these media were collected for analysis. 20:1 fatty acid levels are expressed relative to the amount of 20:1 fatty acid present in seeds prior to the start of imbibition. Note that the amount of 20:1 fatty acid present in ungerminated seeds was obtained from independent experiments. Results presented are means ± SD (n = 3). Glc, glucose; Sorb, sorbitol. This experiment was repeated, with similar results.