ATP level in imbibed seeds of rape, annual ryegrass and crimson clover was shown to correlate with the rate of subsequent seedling growth and presumed to represent a convenient biochemical index of seedling vigour (T. M. Ching, Plant Physiol. 51:400, 1973). Therefore we have screened inbred strains for maximal and minimal growth rates of the seedling primary root and compared these values with adenylate levels in the scutella of air-dry kernels in four selected inbreds (Table 1). Rapidly and slowly-growing strains could not be distinguished by their ATP content and the energy charge values, while ADP content was 2-3-fold in the small-scutellum inbreds irrespective of the seedling vigour.

Table 1.

I. V. Zeleneva, E. V. Savostianova and G. G. Giulverdieva

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