Seedling cell activity

​Corn seedlings have recently emerged in fields of North Central USA. It is exciting to see the new plants arrive. Most of the activity is occurring out of site, however. Beneath the soil surface, close to the seed, the primary root is growing downwards, and the apical meristem is producing new cells via cell division. Heat energy is contributing to driving the cellular activity at both ends of the young plant.

Imbibition of water into the seed leads to activation of the cytoplasm within cells. Most of those processes occur along membranous components of mitochondria, ribosomes, plastids and the endoplasmic reticulum. Hydrated proteins now acting as enzymes in breaking down starch molecules stored in the endosperm and glucose and sucrose molecules are moved thru the scutellum to embryo cells. Diffusion of these sugars through pores of these cells, with cooperation of the cellular membrane and endoplasmic reticulum, these complex molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms are transported to mitochondria where they are further metabolized to create the ATP energy needed for other cellular activity. This cellular respiration process allows further cell construction as cells divide in the root and shoot meristems. Elongation of hypocotyl cells, as well as meristem cell division pushes the tissues from the kernel.

ATP (adenosine triphosphate) results from the energy transfer from electrons holding the glucose atoms together to form ATP, releasing CO2 and H2O. This process occurs in the mitochondria. These membrane-intense organelles apparently vary in number and efficiency among corn varieties. Mitochondria, having their own DNA, and yet is dependent upon the rest of the cell for its structural components, are transmitted to the next generation only through the egg cell. This is probably why different female parents of corn hybrids vary in time for seedling emergence and vulnerability to imbibition chilling damage.

The remarkable growth from a corn seed during a few months all coming from the cellular activity as coded in the genetics of the seed and its environment as assisted by the corn grower.