New Insight on Water Status in Germinating Brassica napus Seeds in Relation to Priming-Improved Germination

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2019-01, Vol.20 (3), p.540
• Main Authors: Lechowska, Katarzyna, Kubala, Szymon, Wojtyla, Łukasz, Nowaczyk, Grzegorz, Quinet, Muriel, Lutts, Stanley, Garnczarska, Małgorzata
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Aquaporins - genetics; Aquaporins - metabolism; Brassica napus - growth & development; Brassica napus - ultrastructure; Cell division; Cell walls; Cotyledon - cytology; Cotyledon - ultrastructure; Cytoskeleton; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; Flowers & plants; Gating; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Genes, Plant; Germination; Gibberellic acid; Hydration; Hydrogen peroxide; Imbibition; Kinetics; Metabolism; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Oxidative stress; Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-diphosphate; Phylogeny; Physiology; Plant growth; Polyethylene glycol; Proline; Proteins; Proteomics; Rape plants; Seed coats; Seed germination; Seeds; Seeds - growth & development; Seeds - ultrastructure; Subgroups; Transport; Vacuoles - metabolism; Water - physiology; Water absorption; Water uptake
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms20030540

Seed priming is a pre-sowing method successfully used to improve seed germination. Since water plays a crucial role in germination, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between better germination performances of osmoprimed seeds and seed water status during germination. To achieve this goal, a combination of different kinds of approaches was used, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, TEM, and SEM as well as semi-quantitative PCR (semi-qPCR). The results of this study showed that osmopriming enhanced the kinetics of water uptake and the total amount of absorbed water during both the early imbibition stage and in the later phases of seed germination. The spin⁻spin relaxation time ( ₂) measurement suggests that osmopriming causes faster water penetration into the seed and more efficient tissue hydration. Moreover, factors potentially affecting water relations in germinating primed seeds were also identified. It was shown that osmopriming (i) changes the microstructural features of the seed coat, e.g., leads to the formation of microcracks, (ii) alters the internal structure of the seed by the induction of additional void spaces in the seed, (iii) increases cotyledons cells vacuolization, and (iv) modifies the expression pattern of aquaporin genes.