Abstract
Plant seeds are peculiar structures designed to protect the genetic material of their embryo until long after the death of the mother plant. For this reason, the cells of a plant seed are adapted to survive the most stringent environmental conditions. After prolonged storage, however, a seed loses its capacity to germinate (viability). If the seed is kept in a dry environment it undergoes a sort of spontaneous mummification with no appreciable change in its external morphology. With the passing of centuries it will acquire a dark reddish-brown color, yet show an amazing degree of structure conservation (for a review, see Toole 1986).
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© 1994 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Rollo, F., Venanzi, F.M., Amici, A. (1994). DNA and RNA from Ancient Plant Seeds. In: Herrmann, B., Hummel, S. (eds) Ancient DNA. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4318-2_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4318-2_16
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