Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T10:11:08.061Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sacred lotus, the long-living fruits of China Antique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2007

J. Shen-Miller
J. Shen-Miller*
Affiliation:
Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution; Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
*
*Correspondence: Fax: +1–310–825–0097 Email: shenmiller@biology.ucla.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the West, lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) is relatively little known. However, for more than 3000 years, lotus plants have been cultivated as a crop in Far-East Asia, where they are used for food, medicine and play a significant role in religious and cultural activities. Holder of the world’s record for long-term seed viability (1300 years) is a lotus fruit (China Antique) from Xipaozi, Liaoning Province, China. Five offspring of this variety, from 200–500-year-old fruits (14C dates) collected at Xipaozi, have recently been germinated, and are the first such seedlings to be raised from directly dated fruits. The fruits at Xipaozi, preserved in a dry ancient lakebed, have been exposed to low-dose γ-radiation for hundreds of years (having an accumulated soil irradiation of 0.1–1.0 Gy). Offspring from these old fruits show abnormalities that resemble those in various modern seedlings irradiated at much higher doses. Although these lotus offspring are phenotypically abnormal, the viability of old seeds was evidently not affected by accumulated doses of up to 3 Gy. Growth characteristics of first- and second-year lotus offspring of these fruits, products of the longest-term radiobiological experiment on record, are summarized here (rapid early growth, phenotypic abnormalities, lack of vigour, poor rhizome development and low photosynthetic activity during second-year growth). Aspects of their chromosomal organization, phenotype and physiology (rapid recovery from stress, heat-stable proteins, protein-repair enzyme) are discussed. Important unsolved problems are suggested to elicit interest among members of the seed science community to the study of old fruits recently collected at Xipaozi, with particular emphasis on aspects of ageing and repair.

Keywords

abnormal offspringChina AntiqueNelumbo nuciferaseed ageingseed longevitysoil -irradiation
Type
Invited Review Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , September 2002 , pp. 131 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, R.L.P. and Burdon, R.H. (1985) In Molecular biology on DNA methylation. New York, Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aitken, M.J. (1985) In Thermoluminescence dating. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Anonymous. (2001) Ageing, only a matter of time.The Economist 1 September. 66.Google Scholar
Arabidopsis Genome Initiative. (2000) Analysis of the genome sequence of the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature 408, 796–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltimore, D. (2001) Our genome unveiled. Nature 409, 814–816.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bewley, J.D. and Black, M.. (1982) In Physiology and biochemistry of seeds: (2) viability, dormancy, and environmental control. pp Berlin, Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Bewley, J.D. and Black, M.. (1994) Seeds. Physiology of development, and germination (2nd edition), New York, Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, B.B., Gruissem, W. and Jones, R.L. (2000) In Biochemistry and molecular biology of plants. p. 1367. Rockville, Maryland, American Society of Plant Physiologists.Google Scholar
Chang, Y.J. (1978) A thousand year-old lotus has awaken. Fossil 1. 22–23. (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Chen, C.H., Chien, S.M. and Zhou, K.S. (1965) Palynological analysis of the Holocene Nymphaceae seed-bearing deposits at the vicinity in Liaotung Peninsula. Quarternaria Sinica 4, 167–173 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
China Wuhan Institute of Botany (Eds) (1987) In China lotus. p. 163, colour plates 1–105. Beijing, Academia Sinica, Science Publishers (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Clarke, S. (1992) The biological functions of protein methylation. pp 413–436. in Bittar, E.E. (ed.) Fundamentals of medical cell biology. Volume 3B. Chemistry of the living cell. Greenwich, Connecticut, JAI Press.Google Scholar
Close, T.J., Fenton, R.D., Yang, A., Asghar, R., DeMason, D.A., Crone, D.E., Meyer, N.C. and Moonan, F. (1993) Dehydrin, the protein. pp 104–118. in Close, T.J. and Bray, E.A., (Eds) Plant responses to cellular dehydration during environmental stress. Rockville, Maryland, American Society of Plant Physiologists.Google Scholar
Davis, J.C., Procter, I.D., Southon, J.R., Caffee, M.W., Heikkinen, D.W., Roberts, M.L., Moore, T.L., Turteltaub, K.W., Nelson, D.E., Lloyd, H.D. and Vogel, J.S. (1990) LLNL-UC AMS facility and research program. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B52, 269–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ding, Z.H., Wong, N.Z. and Ma, F.L. (1987) Lotus anatomy and chromosome morphology. pp 13–37. China Wuhan Institute of Botany, (Eds) China lotus. Beijing, Academia Sinica, Science Publishers (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Ellis, J. (1992) Protein folding: Cytosolic chaperonin confirmed. Nature 358, 191–192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Esau, K. (1965) Plant anatomy. (2nd edition). New York, John Wiley.Google Scholar
Flavell, R.B. (1986) The structure and control of expression of ribosomal RNA genes. Oxford Surveys of Plant Molecular and Cell Biology 3, 251–274.Google Scholar
Gunckel, J.E. and Sparrow, A.H. (1954) Aberrant growth in plants induced by ionizing radiation. Brookhaven National Laboratory Symposium on Biology 6, 252–279.Google Scholar
Hall, E. (2000) Radiobiology for the radiobiologists. (8th edition). Philadelphia: J. P. Lippincott.Google Scholar
Huang, G.H. (1987a) Classification and geographic distribution of Nelumbo nucifera. pp 9–12. in China Wuhan Institute of Botany (Eds) China lotus. Beijing, Academia Sinica, Science Publishers (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Huang, G.H. (1987b) Physiology and morphology of Nelumbo nucifera. pp 38–45. China Wuhan Institute of Botany (Eds) China lotus. Beijing, Academia Sinica, Science Publishers (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Ingram, J. and Bartels, D. (1996) The molecular basis of dehydration tolerance in plants. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 47, 377–403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium. (2001) Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome. Nature 409, 860–921.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kagan, R.M., Niewmierzycka, A. and Clarke, S. (1997) Targeted gene disruption of Caenorhabditis elegans L-isoaspartyl protein repair methyltransferase impairs survival of dauer stage nematodes. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 348, 320–328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, E., Lowenson, J.D., Maclaren, D.C., Clarke, S. and Young, S.G. (1997) Deficiency of a protein-repair enzyme results in the accumulation of altered proteins, retardation of growth, and fetal seizures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 94, 6132–6137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, E., Lowenson, J.D., Clarke, S. and Young, S.G. (1999) Phenotypic analysis of seizure-prone mice lacking L-isoaspartate (D-aspartate)-methyltransferase. Journal of Biological Chemistry 274, 20671–20678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kovarik, A., Koukalova, B., Lim, K.Y., Matyasek, R., Lichtenstein, C.P., Leitch, A.R. and Bezdek, M. (2000) Comparative analysis of DNA methylation in tobacco heterochromatic sequences. Chromosome Research 8, 527–541.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langdon, T., Seago, C., Jones, R.N., Ougham, H., Thomas, H., Forster, J.W. and Jenkins, G. (2000) De novo evolution of satellite DNA on the rye B chromosome. Genetics 154, 869–884.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leopold, A.C., Sun, W.Q. and Bernal-Lugo, I. (1994) The glassy state in seeds: analysis and function. Seed Science Research 4, 267–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linsley, G. (1997) Radiation and the environment: assessing effects on plants and animals. In IAEA Bulletin. pp: 39 (no. 1).Google Scholar
Little, J.B. (1998) Radiation-induced genomic instability. International Journal of Radiation Biology 74, 663–671.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miquel, M., James, D., Dooner, H. and Browse, J. (1993) Arabidopsis requires polyunsaturated lipids for low temperature survival. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 90, 6208–6212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mudgett, M.B. and Clarke, S. (1993) Characterization of L-isoaspartyl methyltransferases that may be involved in seed survival: purification, cloning, and sequence analysis of the wheat germ enzyme. Biochemistry 32, 11100–11111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mudgett, M.B., Lowenson, J.D. and Clarke, S. (1997) Protein repair L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase in plants, phylogenetic distribution and the accumulation of substrate proteins in aged barley seeds. Plant Physiology 115, 1481–1489.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ni, X.M. (1987) Cultivars of Nelumbo nucifera. pp 79–158. China Wuhan Institute of Botany (Eds) China lotus. Beijing, Academia Sinica, Science Publishers (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Ni, X.M. (1987) Cultivation of Nelumbo nucifera.. pp 62–69. China Wuhan Institute of Botany (Eds) China lotus. Beijing, Academia Sinica, Science Publishers (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Neuffer, G., Coe, E.H. and Wessler, S.R. (1997) In Mutants of maize. Plainview, New York, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.Google Scholar
Nover, L. (1991) In Heat shock response. pp Boca Raton, FL, CRC Press.Google ScholarPubMed
Ohga, I. (1923) On the longevity of seeds of Nelumbo nucifera. Botanical Magazine 37, 67–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ohga, I. (1926) On the structure of some ancient, but still viable fruits of Indian lotus, with special reference to their prolonged dormancy. Japanese Journal of Botany 3, 1–20.Google Scholar
Ohga, I. (1927) On the age of ancient fruit of Indian lotus which is kept in the peat bed in south Manchuria. Botanical Magazine 41, 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ohga, I. (1927) Supramaximal temperature and life duration of the ancient fruits of Indian Lotus. Botanical Magazine 41, 161–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priestley, D. (1986) In Seed aging. Ithaca, Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Priestley, D. and Posthumus, M.A. (1982) Extreme longevity of lotus seeds from Pulantien. Nature 299, 148–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, E.L. and Buchanan, J.D. (1980) Morphological studies of the Nymphaeceae. XI. The floral biology of. Nelumbo pentapetala. American Journal of Botany 67. pp 182–193.Google Scholar
Seymour, R.S. and Schultze-Motel, P. (1996) Thermoregulating lotus flowers. Nature 383. pp 305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shen-Miller, J., Mudgett, M.B., Schopf, J.W., Clarke, S. and Berger, R. (1995) Exceptional seed longevity and robust growth: ancient Sacred Lotus from China. American Journal of Botany 82, 1367–1380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shen-Miller, J., Schopf, J.W., Tholandi, M. and Harbottle, G. (1997) Sacred Lotus seeds of exceptional longevity: a call for research participation. p. 76. in in Symposium Seed Biology and Technology: Application and Advances, Fort Collins, Colorado, Poster Abstract.Google Scholar
Shen-Miller, J., Schopf, J.W., Harbottle, G., Cao, R.J., Ouyang, S., Zhou, S.K., Lindner, P., Southon, J.R. and Stetter, K.O. (1999) Sacred lotus of exceptional seed longevity: phenotypically abnormal plant of 350 yr-old fruit, soil radioactivity, and heat-stable proteins. p. 63, in in Plant Biology 1999, Baltimore, Maryland. American Society of Plant Physiologists Annual Meetings, Poster Abstract.Google Scholar
Shen-Miller, J., Schopf, J.W., Harbottle, G., Cao, R.J., Ouyang, S., Zhou, K.S., Southon, J.R. and Liu, G.H. (2002) Long-living lotus: germination and soil γ-irradiation of centuries-old fruits, and cultivation, growth, and phenotypic abnormalities of offspring. American Journal of Botany 89, 236–247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shen-Miller, J., Thapar, N. and Clarke, S.G. (2002) Offspring of lotus fruits exposed to soil γ-radiation for hundreds of years: phenotypic abnormalities and protein-repair by L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase (IAMT), in in Plant Biology 2002, Denver, Colorado. American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meetings, Seed Biology Mini Symposium Abstract (in press).Google Scholar
Skubatz, H., Williamson, P.S., Schneider, E.L. and Meeuse, B.J.D. (1990) Cyanide-insensitive respiration in thermogenic flowers of Victoria and. Nelumbo. Journal of Experimental Botany 41. pp 1335–1339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soltis, D.E., Soltis, P.S., Chase, M.W., Mort, M.E., Albach, D.C., Zanis, M., Savolainen, V., Hahn, W.H., Hoot, S.B., Fay, M.F., Axtell, M., Swensen, S.M., Prince, L.M., Kress, W.J., Nixon, K.C. and Farris, J.S. (2000) Angiosperm phylogeny inferred from 18S rDNA, rbcL, and atpB sequences. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 133, 381–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stryer, L. (1981) Biochemistry. (2nd edition). San FranciscoW.H. Freeman and Company.Google Scholar
ten Lohuis, M., Muller, A., Heidman, I., Niedenhof, I. and Meyer, P. (1995) A repetitive DNA fragment carrying a hot spot for de novo DNA methylation enhances expression of variegation in tobacco and petunia. Plant Journal 8, 919–932.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thapar, N. and Clarke, S. (2000) Expression, purification, and characterization of the protein repair L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase from Arabidopsis thaliana. Protein Expression and Purification 20. pp 237–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thapar, N., Kim, A.K. and Clarke, S. (2001) Distinct pattern of expression but similar biochemical properties of protein L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase in higher plants. Plant Physiology 125, 1023–1035.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thirumalai, D. and Lorimer, G.H. (2001) Chaperonin-mediated protein folding. Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure 30, 245–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
US-DHEW (1974) A barefoot doctors' manual. pp National Institutes of Health (NIH) 75–695, p. 519. Washington, DC, US Department of Health, Education and Welfare Publishing.Google Scholar
US-DOE-BNL (1999) In Site environmental report 1997. pp Upton, New York, US Department of Energy–Brookhaven National Laboratory Publications.Google Scholar
Viitanen, P.V., Schmidt, M., Buchner, J., Suzuki, T., Vierling, E., Dickson, R., Lorimer, G.H., Gatenby, A. and Soll, J. (1995) Functional characterization of the higher plant chloroplast chaperonins. Journal of Biological Chemistry 270, 18158–18164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Visick, J.E., Cai, H. and Clarke, S. (1998) The L-isoaspartyl protein repair methyltransferase enhances survival of aging Escherichia coli subjected to secondary environmental stresses. Journal of Bacteriology 180, 2623–2629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walbot, V., Benito, M.I., Bodeau, J.B. and Nash, J.N. (1994) Abscisic acid induces pink pigmentation in maize aleurone in the absence of Bronze 2. Maydica 39. pp 19–28.Google Scholar
Wester, H.V. (1973) Further evidence on age of ancient viable lotus seeds from Pulantien deposit, Manchuria. HortScience 8, 371–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, P.S. and Schneider, E.L. (1993) Nelumbonaceae. pp 470–473. Kubitzki, K. (Ed.) The families and genera of vascular plants. Berlin, Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Wong, C.F. (1987) Origin and historical record of Nelumbo nucifera. pp 1–8. China Wuhan Institute of Botany (Eds). China lotus. Beijing, Academia Sinica, Science Publishers (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Zhao, J.Y. (1987) Chemical analyses and economic values of Nelumbo nucifera. pp 46–61. China Wuhan Institute of Botany (Eds.) in China lotus. Beijing, Academia Sinica, Science Publishers (in Chinese).Google Scholar