Seed Testing and Quality-Assurance
H igh-quality seed is the basis for profitable and productive agriculture, be it a large commercial field operation, a small familyowned farm, or a greenhouse-based operation producing bedding plants or specialty horticultural crops. Assessing seed quality and assuring the buyer of the validity of the seed label (Fig. 1) has been an important mission of the various seed regulatory agencies of state and federal governments and service-testing provided by commercial seed-testing laboratories around the world. Based on validity of labeling, commercial sales of seed have been a profitable business to both the seed producer and the consumer. In the United States and Canada, seed-testing rules have been developed and standardized by the Assn. of Official Seed Analysts (AOSA) and in other countries around the world by the Inter-
Pollination by a Lizard on a Mediterranean Island
Pollen and nectar are eaten by a wide variety of animals including geckos, skinks (Whitaker, 1987) and lacertid lizards (Elvers, 1978; PerezMellado and Corti, 1993; Saez and Traveset, 1995). This feeding behavior suggests potential pollen transport and the possibility of pollination by lizards (Elvers, 1978; Whitaker, 1987; Saez and Traveset, 1995). Here we show the role of the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi (Sauria, Lacertidae) in the pollination of a Mediterranean Umbelliferae, the sea fern, Crithmum maritimum on the islet of Nitge (surface area 10.6 hectares; Perez-Mellado, 1989), close to Menorca Island (Balearic Archipelago, Spain). Lizards from Nitge are Podarcis lilfordi fenni, isolated on this islet at least 9000 years ago (Perez-Mellado and Salvador, 1988). The population density is very high (Perez-Mellado, 1989; Brown et al., 1992; Brown and PerezMellado, 1994), with marked annual fluctuations.
Relationships Between Seed Respiration During Imbibition and Subsequent Seedling Growth in Zea mays L.
Corn (Zea mays L.) seed respiration rates during the first 30 hours of germination were compared with seedling growth 3 to 5 days after planting. Significant positive correlations were observed between rates of O(2) uptake during imbibition and later stages of germination and seedling growth. Glutamic acid decarboxylase activity also was positively correlated with seedling growth. The highly significant correlations between respiratory quotients and seedling growth were negative.Seed metabolism during the initial hours of germination is evidently related somehow to seedling growth rates several days later. Whether this relationship is due to the dependence of synthetic processes and growth on respiratory energy, the fact that high respiration rates reflect high levels of metabolic activity, or to some other cause, remains to be determined.