Dependence of phytochrome action in seeds on membrane organization.

Germination of Amaranthus retroflexus L. seeds imbibed at 40 C is enhanced by establishing the active form of phytochrome before a reduction in temperature to <32 C. The half-time for effectiveness of the lower temperature is about 8 min at 15 C. Isolated membrane fragments of A. retroflexus seeds associated with the fluorescent probe 1,8-anilino-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) increase in structural order as the temperature is lowered through the 32 C region. The germination response is decreased by the membrane-disruptive substances tris, octonoate, and ethanol. The results show that phytochrome activity is associated with an organized membrane. By using ANS with membrane fragments from Setaria faberi Herrm. seeds, leakage of amino acid was found to be enhanced at temperatures >32 C by a transition in the plasmalemma.