Viability of seeds, and biochemical and cytological characteristics of seedlings in peas after long-term seed storage under permafrost

It is known that low positive temperatures do not allow keeping seeds for a long time without deterioration and viability decrease owing to biochemical processes of an aging and emergence chromosomal aberrations. That is why the decreased temperatures (from -6 to -8 °С) are widely used for effective storage. We conducted research of seed viability and cytology-biochemical characteristics of cells in tissues of the seedlings obtained from these seeds (i.e. a mitotic index, chromosomal aberrations, activity of a peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, concentration of low-molecular antioxidants, the rate of 14C-leucinum and 3H-thymidine incorporation) in different pea cultivars ( Pisum sativum L.) after long-term (from 12 to 31 years) storage at different seed banks of Russia (in a midland, in the South and in the Urals) and in the conditions of permafrost (Yakutsk). In our experiment the pea varieties VIT, Chiflik-5 (Bulgaria), Cartess Ckipper (Great Britain), Zuckerbsen Ambrosea (Germany) were compared. It is established that the long-term storage (from 26 to 27 years) in the conditions of permafrost soils leads to retaining high seeds viability (100 %) in VIT and Chiflik 5 cultivars, and a small number of abnormal mitoses (up to 4 %) in the meristem cells of roots and increased activity of antioxidant systems in the seedlings indicated the best safety and stable genetic constitution of these seeds, in comparison with those stored within 12-13 years (viability of 50 %) in other conditions. Only Cartess Ckipper cultivar seeds stored at Krymsk during 11 years exceeded the similar seeds stored 27 years in Yakutsk by a viability index (20 % up). Zuckerbsen Ambrosea seeds stored in Yekaterinburg during 12 years had the viability index 60 %, that’s comparable to 26 years' storage in the permafrost. It should be noted that seeds storage during 27-31 years in the conditions of the South and the Urals leads to the complete loss of viability.