
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 13, 1992                   TAG: 9203130368
SECTION: LAWN & GARDEN                    PAGE: L&G-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SCIENTISTS FIND SLUMBERING SEEDS STAY AROUND LONGER

Seeds are being put to sleep with laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, in experiments seeking newer and better ways to preserve them.

Dr. Sharon Sowa of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Research Service describes her work at the National Seed Storage Laboratory in Fort Collins, Colo., as "insurance against seed extinction and keeping them available to breed agricultural plants for drought tolerance, disease resistance and other traits."

Sowa, a chemist, slowed respiration of cell components in snap beans by 35 percent, by anesthetizing them with blown air that was 80 percent nitrous oxide. Thirty minutes later, she revived them from their nap. She reports they germinated normally.

Her goal is to find a way to safely keep hard-to-store seeds. That way may be "to treat seeds someday much like doctors treat their patients in surgery," by slowing life processes within the seeds.

She says most seeds can be stored safely either in temperature-controlled rooms or frozen in liquid nitrogen, but not those from tropical and subtropical plants, such as passion fruit and macadamia nuts.

"We also are looking for ways to store seeds for citrus and other tree crops. Currently we must keep trees growing in orchards if we want to preserve their unique genetic traits for future breeding experiments."

The Colorado laboratory keeps and preserves 240,000 accessions in cold storage. Limited numbers of seeds are sent out on request to plant breeders and scientists throughout the world.

by CNB