Columnar epithelium and parenchyma cells of the scutellum ofTriticum durumcaryopses show different quiescence models: while epithelium cells display a DNA content per nucleus of 2C, the parenchyma cells undergo poli- ploidization. Furthermore, in old seeds, the distribution of the histones/DNA ratio shifts much more in parenchyma cells than in columnar epithelium cells. It may thus be concluded that different tissues of the same organ (scutellum) are affected in a different way by damaging effect of ageing factors.