XVI International Botanical Congess

Despite the normal appearance of old 1969,1914,1873, and ancient,2000BP wheat, there is a progressive degradation of enzyme systems with time. Internally the embryos indicates progressive lesions in mitochondrial membranes and detachment of the plasmalemma from the cell walls. On hydration there is rapid autolysis of cell contents in non viable embryos. Examination of the activities of acid phosphatase, ATP ase, peroxidase, and glucose 6 phosphatase suggests that acid phosphatases will function for at least 100 years, despite the fact that the seed will not germinate. DNA of the 2000BP seed material indicated that DNA was amplifiable to 132 base pairs indicating significant but not total breakdown of DNA over time. This is consistent with other ancient biological materials.