Effects of Reduced Oxygen Tension on Vascular Plants.

Recent studies of O₂ toxicity, antioxidants and anaerobiosis in various organisms suggested the value of experiments on the O₂ dependency of vascular plants. A number of species tolerate 24 to more than 250 hrs. in argon containing < 1 % O₂. Coleus and maple were among the more tolerant species and showed increased survival when KNO₃ was supplied. Both KNO₃ and ATP stimulated germination of Rye grains and Cucumber seeds. Lemna shows adaptation to low pO₂, initiating growth at an appreciable rate after a 10 day lag period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]