Aging is a part of life, and plants are no exception. The life cycle of a plant is felt in gene banks that store plant materials, such as seeds. Plant materials in gene banks may be accessed by farmers, researchers, conservationists, and others for breeding. But for a gene bank to provide useful germplasm to growers, the seeds stored there must be alive when harvested. And as the stored seeds start to age, fewer and fewer of them live long enough to germinate. So, gene banks must continuously monitor stored seeds to ensure they haven’t aged beyond their “expiration date” and lose ability to germinate.
Click here for original story, Study measures early detection of aging in seeds
Source: Phys.org