Tomato Seed Coat Permeability: Optimal Seed Treatment Chemical Properties for Targeting the Embryo with Implications for Internal Seed-Borne Pathogen Control

Hilary Mayton, Masoume Amirkhani, Daibin Yang, Stephen Donovan and Alan G. Taylor
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Hilary Mayton: Cornell AgriTech, School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section, Cornell University, New York, NY 14456, USA
Masoume Amirkhani: Cornell AgriTech, School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section, Cornell University, New York, NY 14456, USA
Daibin Yang: Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Stephen Donovan: The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education, Willow Grove, PA 19090, USA
Alan G. Taylor: Cornell AgriTech, School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section, Cornell University, New York, NY 14456, USA

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: Seed treatments are frequently applied for the management of early-season pests, including seed-borne pathogens. However, to be effective against internal pathogens, the active ingredient must be able to penetrate the seed coat. Tomato seeds were the focus of this study, and the objectives were to (1) evaluate three coumarin fluorescent tracers in terms of uptake and (2) quantify seed coat permeability in relation to lipophilicity to better elucidate chemical movement in seed tissue. Uptake in seeds treated with coumarin 1, 120, and 151 was assessed by fluorescence microscopy. For quantitative studies, a series of 11 n -alkyl piperonyl amides with log K ow in the range of 0.02–5.66 were applied, and two portions, namely, the embryo, and the endosperm + seed coat, were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Coumarin 120 with the lowest log K ow of 1.3 displayed greater seed uptake than coumarin 1 with a log K ow of 2.9. In contrast, the optimal log K ow for embryo uptake ranged from 2.9 to 3.3 derived from the amide series. Therefore, heterogeneous coumarin tracers were not suitable to determine optimal log K ow for uptake. Three tomato varieties were investigated with the amide series, and the maximum percent recovered in the embryonic tissue ranged from only 1.2% to 5%. These data suggest that the application of active ingredients as seed treatments could result in suboptimal concentrations in the embryo being efficacious.

Keywords: tissue lipophilicity; systemic uptake; coumarin; piperonyl amides (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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