At the coleorhiza stage, the average [LT.sub.50] was -2.4 [degrees] C for both cultivars, whether treated at 17 or 3 [degrees] C.
Proline, soluble sugars, and fructans accumulated in embryos at the coleorhiza and the radicle stage when seeds were exposed to 3 [degrees] C (Table 2).
Low temperature treatment did not modify the relative distribution of fatty acids of Ot220 or America at the coleorhiza or radicle stages.
Ot220 and America at the coleorhiza and radicle stage following treatment at 17 and 3 [degrees] C (mean [+ or -] SD).
The Cyt c pathway contributed approximately 70% of the total oxygen consumption for both cultivars except at the coleorhiza stage for Ot220 where the contribution was 50%.
Differential cold sensitivity at early stages of development (coleorhiza and radicle), however, could rely more on germination dynamics (e.g., Di, [D.sub.50], and final percentage of germination, Scott and Jones, 1982; Martin et al., 1988) than on [LT.sub.50].
These temperatures are lower than those reported here, of -2.4 [degrees] C and -1.9 [degrees] C for the coleorhiza and radicle stages, respectively.