Germine acetate

Aliphatic compounds Several water-soluble simple organic acids and alcohols are cannon plant and soil constituents. They include methanol, ethanol, n-propanol and butanol (40), and crotonic, oxalic, formic, butyric, lactic, acetic and succinic acids (41, 42), all of which inhibit seed germination or plant growth. Under aerobic conditions, however, aliphalic acids are metabolized in the soil and therefore, should not be considered a major source of allelopathic activity (40). 

Experiments with gaseous acetic acid have been performed for disinfection of seeds intended for the production of bean sprouts (Delaquis et al., 1999). Salmonella typhimurium and E. coli 0157 H7 were eradicated from the surface of mung bean seeds and it was reported that the seed germination loss was not too large. The seeds have often been the suspected source of contamination in sprout-associated outbreaks and sanitation methods that do not interfere with the germination of the seeds are appreciated. Other volatile chemical treatments have been tested for lethality to Salmonella spp. on alfalfa seeds and sprouts with varying results both on the efficacy of the disinfectant and its effect on sensory qualities (Weissinger et al., 2001). 

Uracil-6-acetic acid [242] (XXVll), wherein the carboxylic acid group is attached to the pyrimidine ring through a -CH2- linkage, was found to inhibit the germination of conidia of Peronospora tabacim in vitro [243]. 

The glyoxylate cycle is active in the germinating seeds of some plants and in certain microorganisms that can live on acetate as the sole carbon source. In plants, the pathway takes place in glyoxysomes in seedlings. It involves several citric acid cycle enzymes and two additional enzymes isocitrate lyase and malate synthase. 

Many of the most interesting and useful reactions of aldehydes and ketones involve transformation of the initial product of nucleophilic addition to some other substance under the reaction conditions. An example is the reaction of aldehydes with alcohols under conditions of acid catalysis. The expected product of nucleophilic addition of the alcohol to the carbonyl group is called a hemiacetal. The product actually isolated, however, corresponds to reaction of one mole of the aldehyde with two moles of alcohol to give germinal diethers known as acetals ... 

The neutral and nonspecific FDPases may function in nonphotosynthetic carbohydrate metabolism in higher plants. In the germinating castor bean acetate is utilized for the synthesis of sucrose 107, 108), and the presence of the AMP-sensitive FDPase in plant embryo tissues has been demonstrated by Bianchetti and Satirana 109). The changes in levels of this enzyme in response to changes in physiological conditions 109) support a gluconeogenic role for this enzyme. The role of the nonspecific acid FDPase in plant tissues remains unknown. 

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