В статье приводятся результаты анализа влияния низких температур на прорастание семян, вызвавших шок отрицательных температур (ШОТ), и на эффективность мобилизации запасных веществ из их эндосперма при образовании проростков с целью разработки метода для ускоренной оценки устойчивости генотипов озимой пшеницы к морозу.

We studied the features of the reaction of seeds of winter wheat varieties to the impact of a shock caused by frost shock (FSh). Before germination, the seeds were immersed in water at a temperature of +4°C and then subjected to FSh by incubation in an air thermostat for 16 hours at different negative temperatures. Seeds germinated at a temperature of +25°C, relative air humidity of 70–80% for 120 hours. As a boundary temperature for FSh, called FShb, we considered the FSh that causes the decrease of seeds germination of a variety with an average resistance to frost decreased by 50%. Based on the impact of FShb on the seeds of various wheat varieties, its effect on the germination and growth of seedlings of the studied varieties was determined. We have shown that the more strongly the percentage of germination decreased after exposure to FShb, the lower the proportion of endosperm of seeds of this variety were used for germination and growth. Besides this, the distribution of the wheat varieties based on the rational use of the consumed part of the endosperm for germination and growth was the same in control and experimental variants. Thus, the seeds of varieties that sparingly use reserve substances for germination and growth retained this ability even after exposure to FShb. The numerical values of the differences between the «economical» and «less economical» varieties were higher in experiments with the effect of FShb, thanks to this, the mentioned method we recommend for a comparative assessment of frost resistance of different winter wheat genotypes.