Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

At the annual meeting held in Colorado State University, the attendance was excellent from the majority of the states involved. There was ongoing discussion about recruiting new members; additional state and industry individuals will be invited to participate. Participation of stakeholders in this group is important because they apply the research and report on results. There was continued discussion about sponsoring a symposium as a way to increase visability among seed science practitioners and funding agencies. It would also help create collaborations among scientists in the public, private and international communities. 1. Controlled environment studies during seed development on seed quality: California - Studies were initiated to focus on developing post-priming protocols that will enhance the longevity of primed seeds and on identifying the mechanisms involved in the post priming effects. Delaware - Determined that the most rapid seed treatment to establish beet and chard microgreens was to germinate seeds in moist vermiculite, then sow this mixture. Other research determined reasons for enhanced germination responses in microgreens. Microgreens are increasing in popularity; this research has developed a way to increase the speed of crop establishment. Florida - Application of the ethylene action inhibitor, silver thiosulfate (STS) reduced germination of the thermotolerant lettuce genotype 'Everglades' (EVE) at supraoptimal temperature and germination of the thermosensitive enotype 'Dark Green Boston' (DGB) at optimal and supraoptimal temperatures. The abscission initiating compound, 5 chloro-e-methyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole (CMN-P) inhibited EVE germination in a smilar concentration- and temperature-dependent manner to that of STS. However, the mechanism is unclear. Additional germination studies suggest that the ability of lettuce seeds to germinate at supraoptimal temperature is related to their ability to maintain and increase their ethylene production at supraoptimal temperature. In transfenic lettuce studies, the experiments conducted with T2 adn T3 EVE ETR seeds demonstrate that the ability of lettuce seeds to germinate, especially under stressful conditions, is determined by the balance between ethylene perception and ethylene production and increase in ethylene production can compensate for decreased perception. Studies with DGB and EVE ACC plants demonstrated that if lettuce seeds had normal (WT) ethylene perception, their germination at supraoptimal temperature, was solely determined by the amount of ethylene produced. Extended emergence periods can predispose plants to damage by adverse environmental conditions and can cause low uniformity and a low percentage of seedling emergency. The current work determined optimal hydrothermal timing for priming in lettuce seeds, independent of cultivar, seed lot and storage using a low cost endo-beta-mannanase (EBM) gel assay. Experiments demonstrate that the occurrence of EBM activity in a particular seed lot equated well with the ability of that lot to germinate at high temperatures after priming, dry-back and subsequent storage. The EBM test is simple, rapid and inexpensive to run. Using the EBM test as an additional insight to achieving optimal hydrothermal time during priming would give additional safe guards and quality control for companies which either prime or who sell primed lettuce seed. Iowa - Two sunflower varieties were produced in 1999 and 2000 by Cargill Hybrid Seeds. Viability was determined. Geotype, storage temperature, duration and germination methodologies were important variables in the assessment of seed lots. Completed first round of experiments which investigated low temperature stresses without a specific acclimation treatment, stresses following acclimation, and the ability to recover. Kentucky - Successfully developed an automated data capture system for small seeded species using machine vision. This research utilizes an automated system to measure germination and growth rates. Continues to update their database on the world biogeography of seed dormancy classes. The 1998 book on Seeds contains information on the biogeography and class of dormancy for 3580 species; they now have information for 7344 species. Kentucky also examined changes on freezing point temperature in seed, embryo and endosperm tissue in maize. The primary conclusion is that the higher moisture concentration of the embryo leads to increased susceptibility to freezing injury and must be considered by seed producers when freezing temperatures are encountered during production. A study concerning the relationship between air temperature during seed filling and seed germination and vigor in soybean was conducted. Findings support results of experiments that high temperature during seed infection or physical injury reduce soybean seed germination and vigor. Michigan - All archived germplasm through 1992 has been field tested, and two broad-based genetic populations have been developed from promising materials. The sugarbeet research harvester was completed with the first ever real-time sucrose analysis capability using near-infrared instrumentation. This instrument also measured moisture content, and provides the first opportunity for breeders to select on the basis of moisture content. Ohio- Research was conducted to determine how water availability of the mother plant affects seed germinability in lettuce. The results indicated that water availability during seed development not only affected seed yield and individual weight, but also seed germinability under sub-optimal conditions. The Saturated Salt Accelereated Aging (SSAA) test and the Seed Vigor Imaging System (SVIS) are practical and accurate determinants of lettuce seed quality and distinquishes between high and poor quality lettuce seed lots. An image processing computer application was developed to collect statistics from seeds. The method presented requires an inexpensive scanner and a modern personal computer. The seed identification system is designed to be rapidly adapted to specific seed types and trained without knowledge of artificial intelligence. Oregon - Research on the tomato endo-B-mannanase, which is involved in cell wall disassembly and weakening of seed endosperm, led to the discoverey of a novel endo-B-mannanase gene (termed LeMAN5) in the tomato genome by genome-walking PCR and BAC library screening. South Dakota - Methods used to store plant genetic resources depend upon the ability of seeds to survive dehydration and freezing. Preliminary analysis of the seed hydration data suggests that differences in the hydration forces parameters may correlate with desiccation tolerance and longevity; however, more data are required to determine whether this correlation truly relates to longevity or whether it merely reflects seed composition. The hydration data acquired for biomolecules may help us to elucidate the contribution of seed composition to the overall hydration force parameters of the seed. Texas - Evaluated solid matrix priming (SMP) in combination with hydrogen peroxide or the fungicide Captan to improve rate and germination percentage of at high or low (optimal) medium moisture. The most significant response for SMP treatments was the improvement in the germination rate for diploid cultivars at both moisture levels, and for triploid cultivars at optimal medium moisture. Shoot and root growth were evaluated in response to exogenous ABA in pepper poblano 'Tiburon' seedlings during transplant maturity (pre-transplant). The hypothesis was that ABA would induce stress tolerance while maintaining stem growth control up to 8 days after treatment (dat). Drench application to roots was more effective than foliar treatments. Field survival upon transplanting was not affected by ABA foliar or drench. This is a positive response, indicating that ABA early growth control is reversible. Efficient pepper seed enhancement treatments such as solid matrix priming and pre-transplant conditioning treatments to improve seedling stress tolerance have the potential to increase germination and performance under unfavorable field conditions. 2. Develop methods to quantify free radicals and antioxidants. Identify QTL associated with seed quality traits in selected crop plants: California - Lettuce populations are being evaluated to identify genetic determinants (QTL) of seed dormancy and quality. Lettuce crop establishment is hampered in warm regions due to seed dormancy, so development of cultivars with the capacity to terminate at high temperatures would have commerical applications. Iowa - The U.S. annually exports more than $750 million in seed. Income from international sales of maize seeds total $168 million. Most of the hybrid maize seed is produced in the Midwestern states, where early-Fall killing frosts are not uncommon. Immature maize seed can suffer severe mechanical and biochemical damage due to freezing of the intra- and extra-cellular water. Research was conducted on maize genes after freeze injury. Results from these studies helped assess the natural damage in corn seed lots due to an early Fall frost in 2003. Recommendations to the affected seed companies were made based on the knowledge collected in the first year of this project. Kentucky - Identifying DNA fragments bound in vivo by the MADS-domain factors AGL15. Identified a number of genes directly regulated by AGL15 and further characterized the product of one gene that is involved in catabolism of biologically active gibberellins (Gas). Current work focuses on identification of proteins that interact with AGL15 to control gene expression and high-throughput mapping of AGL15 binding sites using a custom ChIP-chip approach. The Downie Lab continues to walk to brownseed1. 15 BAC clones hybridizing to the RFLP marker CT151, tightly linked to bs1, have been recovered. The Downie Lab has identified 2 of 3 cold temperature germinating-dominant (ctg-D) mutants, recovered from screens of Arabidopsis activation tagged lines and capable of completing germination at 10 degree C. faster than wild type. Louisiana - Research was conducted to determine if translational activity (protein synthesis) is required to maintain seeds in the dormant seeds. A chemical genetics approach was initially taken to determine if protein synthesis inhibitors break dormancy of red rice caryposes (naked seeds). It is tentatively concluded from the overall data set that new protein synthesis is not required to maintain seed dormancy in red rice, but rather the controlling proteins are synthesized during grain development and are stabilized in the seed after it is shed from the mother plant. The results enhance our understanding of the physiological factors that control whether weed or native plant seeds germinate or remain dormant in the soil. Identification of new physiological factors increases the range of seed components that can serve as targets for the design of new, environmentally benign, weed control treatments, or modification of cultural practices. Michigan - The genetic basis of traits in sugarbeets is being met through the generation of Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs). The furthest developed of these have been developed over the last six years. Currently, over 3,000 of the proposed 5,000 RILs have been advanced to the F3 generation or greater. Molecular marker development has proceeded reasonably well, with a new technique developed in this program coined EST-UTR showing greatest promise as a tool for EST-anchored PCR markers. Germplasm representing 34 wild PI's and 109 ARS germplasms were used to develop a new seedling vigor measure. Two new seedling disease resistance assays were developed. Both allow analyses of acquisition of seedling disease tolerance as well as allow for direct screening for seedling resistance in breeding populations. NY-Cornell - Fagopyritols are galactosyl cyclitols in buckwheat seeds with similarities to a putative insulin mediator deficient in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and polycystic ovary syndrome. Results of this research demonstrated that multifunctional GolS homologues in buckwheat seeds confer fagopyritol synthase activities and that the specificity for fagopyritol A1 synthesis may be mediated by a unique class of GolS homologues. The identification of a cDNA representing MRNA encoding an enzyme protein that catalyzes the formation of fagopyritol A1 provides new opportunities to use this plant enzyme to form a unique bond in the synthesis an insulin mediator and adds to our understanding of the potential for the use of buckwheat products in the treatments of type II diabetes. Ohio - Dof proteins are a family of transcription factors found only in plants. Several Dof genes have been characterized to control a variety of seed-specific functions from seed maturation to germination and dormancy. Oregon - To identify seed germination-associated genes, Oregon has utilized Arabidopsis enhancer-trap lines. Arabidopsis B-glucuronidase (GUS) enhancer-trap lines have been created and successfully used to identify tissue-specific gene expression in many plant organs. A library has been constructed of Seed-GUS-Expression lines and individual lines are being characterized. Using this approach, GATA zinc finger protein has been identified that plays a critical role in breaking dormancy during cold stratification of Arabidopsis seeds. Characterization of other transcription factors identified from the enhancer trap lines is ongoing. Discovery of the anther/pollen endo-B-mannanase contributes to the general understanding of the biological functions of endo-B-mannanase which is one of the major players in tomato seed germination. Furthermore, the characterization of this anther/pollen mannanase has revealed a very strong and useful promoter for gene expression in anther and pollen, which could be useful for pollination control in seed production. 3. Adapt seed coating equipment for seed treatment application: A mechanical planter was developed for large seeds (i.e., lima bean) in small plots that is easy to use and move, and is inexpensive. The development of the precision mechanical planter for large seeds should assist researchers their planting of small plots. An experiment was conducted to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of color sorting in removing adventitious purple corn from yellow corn. The efficiency of the color-sorting machine averaged 97.21% to 99.18%. Plans for the upcoming year include post-priming protocols of primed seeds, enhanced germination responses and seed vigor, temperature and air and water stress tolerance. Work will also continue to use QTL analysis to determine gene expression for seed dormancy and quality.

Argyris, J., D. TeKrony, D. Hershman, D. Van Sanford, M. Hall, B. Kennedy, M. Rucker and C. Edge. 2004. Fusarium head blight severity in the greenhouse compared to movement of Fusarium graminearum in inoculated wheat. Crop Sci. (in press). Argyris, J.M., Truco, M., Ochoa, O., Still, D., Knapp, S.J, Michelmore, R.W., and Bradford K.J. 2004. QTL Analysis of seed dormancy in lettuce. 3rd International Symposium on Plant Dormancy: From Molecular Level to Whole Plant, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, May 25-28. Birmingham, A.M., E.A. Buzby, D.L. Davis, E.R.Bensen, W.G. Pill, T.A. Evans, R.P. Mulrooney, and M.W. Olszewski. 2004. Precision seeder for large seeds in small plots. HortTechnology 14:1-3. Bonina, J. and D. J. Cantliffe. 2004. Seed production and seed sources of organic vegetables. HS 981. 2004. EDIS http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Bradford, K.J., and Still, D.W. 2004. Applications of Hydrotime Analysis in Seed Testing. Seed Technology 26:75-85. Bryant, G. and K.L. Koster, 2004. Dehydration of solute-lipid systems: hydration forces analysis. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 35: 73-79. Cohn, M.A. 2004. Physiology of dormancy-breaking mechanisms in red rice (invited symposium talk). Abstract S22MT20BP01, 4th International Weed Science Congress, Durban, South Africa. p. 75. Downie, B., Dirk, L.M.A., Xu, Q., Drake, J., Zhang, D., Dutt, M., Levy, A., Butterfield, D.A., Geneve, R.L., Corum III, J.W., Lindstrom, K.G., Snyder, J.C. 2004. A physical, enzymatic, and genetic characterization of perturbations in the brownseed mutants of tomato. Journal of Experimental Botany 55: 961-973. Dutt, M. and R.L. Geneve. 2004. Elevated levels of ethylene during germination reduces the time to radicle emergence in impatiens. Acta Horticulturae 631:43-47. Egli, D.B., D.M. TeKrony J.J. Heitholt, and J. Rupe. 2004. Relationship between air temperature during seed filling and seed germination and vigor in soybean. Crop Sci. (In Press). Egli, D.B., D.M. TeKrony, and J.F. Spears. 2004. High temperature stress and soybean seed quality: Stage of seed development. Seed Tech. (in press). Egli, D.B., and W.P. Bruening, 2004. Water stress, photosynthesis, seed sucrose levels and seed growth in soybean. J. Agr. Sci. 142: 1-8. Filichkin, S.A., Leonard, J.M., Monteros, A., Liu, P.-P., Nonogaki, H. 2004. A novel endo-_-mannanase gene in tomato LeMAN5 is associated with anther and pollen development. Plant Physiology 134:1080-1087. Geneve, R.L. 2004. Vigor testing in flower seeds. In: M.B. McDonald and F. Kwong (eds.). Flower Seeds, Biology and Technology. CAB International, London. pp. 311-332. Guretzky, J.A. K.J. Moore, A.D. Knapp, and E.C. Brummer. 2004. Emergence and survival of legumes seeded into pastures varying in landscape position. Crop Sci. 44:227-233. Hewitt, J.R., Liu, P.-P., Nonogaki, H. 2004. Physiological roles of the endosperm in Arabidopsis seed germination. 29th West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference, San Diego, CA. Hewitt, J.R., Liu, P.-P., Nonogaki, H. 2004. Testa and endosperm rupture in germinating Arabidopsis seeds. The American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL. Hoffmaster, A. L., K. Fujimura, M. B. McDonald, and M. A. Bennett. 2004. An automated system for vigor testing three-day-old soybean seedlings. Intern. Seed Test. Assoc. Homrichhausen, T.M., Liu, P.-P., Nonogaki, H. 2004. Screening of Arabidopsis enhancer-trap lines for genes expressed in seeds. 29th West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference, San Diego, CA. Homrichhausen, T.M., Liu, P.-P., Nonogaki, H. 2004. Tissue-specific expression of a protein phosphatase 2C in germinated Arabidopsis seeds. The American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL. Kim, S-H., and A. G. Taylor. 2004. Germinability of film-coated snap bean seed as affected by oxygen diffusion rate under different soil moisture contents. Korean J. of Crop Sci. 49: 46-51. Kozareva, I., D.J. Cantliffe, R.T. Nagata and H.J. Klee. 2004. Altered germination of thermosensitive and thermotolerant cultivars of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in response to altered ethylene production. Third International Symposium on Plant Dormancy. Wageningen University, The Netherlands. 25-28 May, 2004. Kozareva, I., D. J. Cantliffe, R. T. Nagata, and H. J. Klee. 2004. New support for the involvement of ethylene in lettuce germination at supra-optimal temperature. Acta Horticulturae. Vol. 631. pp. 31-37. Kozareva, I., D.J. Cantliffe, R.T. Nagata and H.J. Klee. 2004. Reduced germination of thermotolerant and thermosensitive cultivars of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in reponse to reduced ethylene perception. Third International Symposium on Plant Dormancy. Wageningen University, The Netherlands. 25-28 May, 2004. Lee, J.S., W.G. Pill, B.B. Cobb and M.W. Olszewski. 2004. Seed treatments to advance greenhouse establishment of beet and chard microgreens. Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology 79:565-570. Leon, R.G., Knapp, A.D., and Owen, M.D.K. 2004. Effect of temperature on the germination of common waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus), giant foxtail (Setaria faberi) and velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti). Weed Sci. 52:67-73. Leskovar, D.I., M. Cantamutto, P. Marinangelli and E. Gaido. 2004. Comparison of direct-seeded, bareroot, and various tray seedling densities on growth dynamics and yield of long-day onion. Agronomie 24:1-6. Li, W., M. B. McDonald, M. A. Bennett, and F. Y. Kwong. 2004. Hydropriming of differing sized impatiens >Expo Wine= seeds. Seed Sci. & Technol. (in press). Liu, P.-P., Nonogaki, H. 2004. Screening of Arabidopsis enhancer-trap lines for seed germination-associated genes. The American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL. McDonald, M.R., A. G. Taylor, J. W. Lorbeer and J. J. van der Heide. 2004. Efficacy testing of onion seed treatments in the greenhouse and field. In C. S. Vavrina and G. E. Welbaum, eds. Proceedings of the Sixth Symposium on Stand Establishment. Acta Horticulturae, 631, 87-93. McDonald, M. B., J. Marcos, and J. Wang. 2004. Seed technology training in the year 2004. North-South Americas Molecular Biology Conference. McGrath, J.M. 2003. Plant breeding and the promise of genomics. Applied Biotechnology, Food Science and Policy 1:207-211. McGrath, J.M., Lewellen, R.T. 2004. Registration of EL0204 sugarbeet germplasm with smooth-root and resistance to rhizomania. Crop Sci. 44: 1032-1033. McGrath, J.M., Shaw, R.S., de los Reyes, B.G., Weiland, J.J. 2004. Construction of a sugar beet BAC library from a hybrid that combines diverse traits. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter 22: 23-28. Nascimento, W.M., D.J. Cantliffe, and D.J. Huber. 2004. Ethylene evolution and endo-B-mannanase activity during lettuce seed germination at high temperature. Sci. Agr., Vol. 61, pp. 156-163. Nault, B. A and A. G. Taylor. 2004. Snap bean B aphid - virus complex: Efficacy of neonicotinoid seed treatments to reduce the incidence of viruses. Bean Improvement Cooperative. 47: 229-230. Nault, B. A., A. G. Taylor, M. Urwiler, T. Rabaey and W. D. Hutchison. 2004. Neonicotinoid seed treatments for managing potato leafhopper infestations in snap bean. Crop Protection 23: 147-154. Nonogaki, H., Liu, P.-P., Homrichhausen, T.M., Hewitt, J.R., Park, E.J. 2004. Enhancer trap of germination-associated genes in Arabidopsis seeds. 9th International Symposium on Plant Seeds, Meisdorf, Germany. Nosarszewski, M., Clements, A.M., Downie, A.B., Archbold, D.D. 2004. Sorbitol dehydrogenase expression and activity during apple fruit set and early development. Physiologia Plantarum 121: 391-398. Oakley, K., S. T. Kester, and R. L. Geneve. 2004. Computer- aided digital image analysis of seedling size and growth rate for assessing seed vigour in impatiens. Seed Science and Technology 32:907-915. Obendorf, R.L. and Horbowicz, M. 2004. Preparation of fagopyritols and uses therefor (US Patent). United States Patent 6,825,173 B2. Date published: November 30. 48 pages. Obendorf, R.L., Odorcic, S. and Gomes, C.I. 2004. Enhancing health-related cyclitols in soy products. Journal of Nutrition 134, 1254S. Obendorf, R.L., Odorcic, S., Ueda, T., Coseo, M.P. and Vassallo, E. 2004. Soybean galactinol synthase forms fagopyritol B1 but not galactopinitols: Substrate feeding of isolated embryos and heterologous expression. Seed Science Research 14, 321-333. Obendorf, R.L. and Ueda, T. 2004. Fagopyritol synthase genes and uses thereof (International Patent). International Patent Publication Number WO 2004/037974 A2. International Publication Date: 6 May 2004. 170 pages. Obendorf, R.L. and Ueda, T. 2004. Fagopyritol synthase genes and uses thereof (US Patent). United States Patent Application Publication US 2004/0038357 A1. Date published: February 26, 2004. 89 pages. Olszewski, M.W., T.A. Evans, N.F. Gregory, and W.G. Pill. 2004. Enhanced germination of primed mericarps of parsley (Petroselinum crispum Mill. Nyman ex A.W. Hill) limited by Alternaria alternata proliferation. Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology (in press). Olszewski, M.W., W.G. Pill and T.D. Pizzolato. 2004. A modified chromosome squash technique to determine mitotic activity in primed mericarps. Journal of Seed Technology (in press). Olszewski, M.W., W.G. Pill and T.D. Pizzolato. 2004. Germination and embryo anatomy of osmotically primed parsley schizocarps. Journal American Society for Horticultural Science 129: 876-880. Penaloza, P., G. Ramirez-Rosales, M. B. McDonald, and M. A. Bennett. 2004. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) seed quality evaluation using seed physical attributes, saturated salt accelerated aging and the seed vigor imaging system. Seed Sci. & Technol. (in press). Ramirez-Rosales, G., M. Bennett, M. B. McDonald and D. Francis. 2004. Effect of fruit development on the germination and vigor of high lycopene tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) genotypes. Seed Sci. & Technol. 32:775-783. Rogis, C., L.R. Gibson, A.D. Knapp, and R. Horton. 2004. Can solid matrix priming with GA3 break seed dormancy in eastern gamagrass? J. Range Manage. 57:656-660. Rogis, C., L.R. Gibson, A.D. Knapp, and R. Horton. 2004. Enhancing germination of Eastern gamagrass seed with stratification and gibberellic acid. Crop Sci. 44:549-552. Sekharan, S., M. B. McDonald, J. G. Streeter, R. T. Sayre, and M. A. Bennett. 2004. Seedling vigor assessment of accelerated and naturally aged soybean seeds. Crop Science Society of America. Taylor, A. G., D. H. Paine, N. Suzuki, B. A. Nault and A. McFaul. 2004. Coating technologies for seed treatment applications. In C. S. Vavrina and G. E. Welbaum, eds. Proceedings of the Sixth Symposium on Stand Establishment. Acta Horticulturae, 631, 49-54. TeKrony, D. M., T. Schande, M.. Rucker and D. B. Egli. 2004. Effect of seed shape on corn germination and vigor during warehouse and controlled environmental storage. Seed Sci. Technol. (in press). Torres, A.C., W.M. Nascimento, S.A.V. Paiva, F.A.S. Aragao, and D.J. Cantliffe. 2004. Bioassay for detection of glyphosate or kanamycin resistance in lettuce plants. Revista Brasileiva de Cultura de Tecidos de Plantes. Vol. 1. Trebbi, D., McGrath, J.M. 2004. Fluorometric sucrose evaluation for sugar beet. J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52: 6862-6867. Walters, C. 2004. Temperature-dependency of molecular mobility in preserved seeds. Biophysical Journal 86: 1253-1258. Walters, C., Wheeler, L.J., and Stanwood, P.C. 2004. Longevity of cryogenically-stored seeds. Cryobiology 48: 229-244. Wang, H., Caruso, L.V., Downie, A.B., Perry, S.E. 2004. The embryo MADS-domain protein AGL15 directly regulates expression of a gene encoding an enzyme involved in gibberellin metabolism. Plant Cell 16: 1206-1219. Wang, T., B.G. Cobb, H. Sittertz-Bhatkar and D.I. Leskovar. 2004. An ultraestructural study of seed reserves in triploid watermelon. Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 631:71-72. Wilson, T.T. and R.L. Geneve. 2004. The impact of film coating on initial water uptake and imbibitional chilling injury in high and low vigor sh2 sweet corn seeds. Seed Science and Technology 32:271-281. Xu, Q., Belcastro, M., Dolan, S., Dinkins, R., Clarke, S., Downie, B. 2004. Isolation and characterization of a novel nuclear localized protein repair methyltransferase gene from Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology 136: 2652-2664. Zhao, T.-Y., Martin, D., Meeley, R.B., Downie, B. 2004. Expression of the maize GALACTINOL SYNTHASE gene family: II) Kernel abscission, environmental stress and myo-inositol influences transcript accumulation in developing seeds and callus cells. Physiologia Plantarum 121: 647-655. Zhao, T.Y., Thacker, R., Corum, J.W., Snyder, J.C., Meeley, R.B., Obendorf, R.L. and Downie, B. 2004. Expression of the maize GALACTINOL SYNTHASE gene family: (I) Expression of two different genes during seed development and germination. Physiologia Plantarum 121, 634-646.