Tests for cereal yield heterosis based on germinating seeds: A warning

Summary In a search for screening tests for yield heterosis with a series of F₁ hybrid barleys, significant correlations were obtained between the oxygen uptake rate of scutella from germinating hybrid seeds, and the grain yield of glasshouse-grown plants.Using 9 seed lots of a single barley cultivar, a relationship was also observed between scutellar oxygen uptake and percentage germination. Percentage of germination was itself correlated with another criterion of seed quality, field emergence.The possible interference of seed quality in physiological and biochemical seedling tests for heterosis is discussed.