Castor seed development is a complex process in which the mother plant nutrients are stored in specialized tissues called endosperm of the seed as lipids which continue to nurture the embryo during the process of germination. The chemical principle that is followed by the seed system is the oxidation of reserve lipids to liberate energy rich sugars to achieve metabolic functional diversity until the seedling attains self-generation potential by photosynthesis and is proved scientifically to occur in specialized sub-cellular organelles called glyoxysomes in plant cells.

Researchers have made an experimental study to evaluate the catalytic factors accounting for the oxidation of lipids from the castor seed endosperm isolated glyoxysomes. The experimental design involves incubation of natural substrates with catalytic preparations under in vitro conditions and monitored time based synthesis of corresponding products and the scientists observation in this respect coincided with their hypothesis. Hence it led them to identify and implicate that catalytic enzymes of glyoxysomal origin are acting as key factors driving the synthesis of sugars for seed germination from stored lipids and also with regulation of oxidative stress in plants.

This is an unique experimental study attributing the significance of glyoxysomes to a fundamental physiological process of castor seed germination.

For reference: http://www.jbc.org/content/244/13/3514.short