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Arshad W, Steinbrecher T, Wilhelmsson PK, Fernandez-Pozo N, Pérez M, Mérai Z, Rensing SA, Chandler JO, Leubner-Metzger G. Aethionema arabicum dimorphic seed trait resetting during transition to seedlings. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2024; 15:1358312. [PMID: 38525145 PMCID: PMC10957558 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1358312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
The transition from germinating seeds to emerging seedlings is one of the most vulnerable plant life cycle stages. Heteromorphic diaspores (seed and fruit dispersal units) are an adaptive bet-hedging strategy to cope with spatiotemporally variable environments. While the roles and mechanisms of seedling traits have been studied in monomorphic species, which produce one type of diaspore, very little is known about seedlings in heteromorphic species. Using the dimorphic diaspore model Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae), we identified contrasting mechanisms in the germination responses to different temperatures of the mucilaginous seeds (M+ seed morphs), the dispersed indehiscent fruits (IND fruit morphs), and the bare non-mucilaginous M- seeds obtained from IND fruits by pericarp (fruit coat) removal. What follows the completion of germination is the pre-emergence seedling growth phase, which we investigated by comparative growth assays of early seedlings derived from the M+ seeds, bare M- seeds, and IND fruits. The dimorphic seedlings derived from M+ and M- seeds did not differ in their responses to ambient temperature and water potential. The phenotype of seedlings derived from IND fruits differed in that they had bent hypocotyls and their shoot and root growth was slower, but the biomechanical hypocotyl properties of 15-day-old seedlings did not differ between seedlings derived from germinated M+ seeds, M- seeds, or IND fruits. Comparison of the transcriptomes of the natural dimorphic diaspores, M+ seeds and IND fruits, identified 2,682 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) during late germination. During the subsequent 3 days of seedling pre-emergence growth, the number of DEGs was reduced 10-fold to 277 root DEGs and 16-fold to 164 shoot DEGs. Among the DEGs in early seedlings were hormonal regulators, in particular for auxin, ethylene, and gibberellins. Furthermore, DEGs were identified for water and ion transporters, nitrate transporter and assimilation enzymes, and cell wall remodeling protein genes encoding enzymes targeting xyloglucan and pectin. We conclude that the transcriptomes of seedlings derived from the dimorphic diaspores, M+ seeds and IND fruits, undergo transcriptional resetting during the post-germination pre-emergence growth transition phase from germinated diaspores to growing seedlings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Waheed Arshad
- Seed Biology and Technology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | - Tina Steinbrecher
- Seed Biology and Technology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | | | - Noe Fernandez-Pozo
- Plant Cell Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Department Plant Breeding and Physiology, Institute for Mediterranean and Subtropical Horticulture “La Mayora” (IHSM-CSIC-UMA), Málaga, Spain
| | - Marta Pérez
- Seed Biology and Technology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | - Zsuzsanna Mérai
- Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Stefan A. Rensing
- Plant Cell Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Centre for Biological Signalling Studies (BIOSS), University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Jake O. Chandler
- Seed Biology and Technology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | - Gerhard Leubner-Metzger
- Seed Biology and Technology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
- Laboratory of Growth Regulators, Faculty of Science, Palacký University and Institute of Experimental Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Olomouc, Czechia
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Hualpa-Ramirez E, Carrasco-Lozano EC, Madrid-Espinoza J, Tejos R, Ruiz-Lara S, Stange C, Norambuena L. Stress salinity in plants: New strategies to cope with in the foreseeable scenario. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY : PPB 2024; 208:108507. [PMID: 38467083 DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2024.108507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
The excess of salts in soils causes stress in most plants, except for some halophytes that can tolerate higher levels of salinity. The excess of Na+ generates an ionic imbalance, reducing the K+ content and altering cellular metabolism, thus impacting in plant growth and development. Additionally, salinity in soil induces water stress due to osmotic effects and increments the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that affect the cellular structure, damaging membranes and proteins, and altering the electrochemical potential of H+, which directly affects nutrient absorption by membrane transporters. However, plants possess mechanisms to overcome the toxicity of the sodium ions, such as internalization into the vacuole or exclusion from the cell, synthesis of enzymes or protective compounds against ROS, and the synthesis of metabolites that help to regulate the osmotic potential of plants. Physiologic and molecular mechanisms of salinity tolerance in plants will be addressed in this review. Furthermore, a revision of strategies taken by researchers to confer salt stress tolerance on agriculturally important species are discussed. These strategies include conventional breeding and genetic engineering as transgenesis and genome editing by CRISPR/Cas9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Efrain Hualpa-Ramirez
- Plant Molecular Biology Centre, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | | | | | - Ricardo Tejos
- Plant Molecular Biology Centre, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Simón Ruiz-Lara
- Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas. Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile
| | - Claudia Stange
- Plant Molecular Biology Centre, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Lorena Norambuena
- Plant Molecular Biology Centre, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
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Šerá B, Hnilička F. Genetic and Environmental Factors Affecting Seed Germination. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:4106. [PMID: 38140433 PMCID: PMC10748122 DOI: 10.3390/plants12244106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Plants have evolved various strategies allowing them to be successful in heterogeneous habitats, including the number and size of the seeds they produce, mechanisms for their dispersal, seed dormancy, seed vigor, seed germination, etc [...].
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Affiliation(s)
- Božena Šerá
- Department of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, 84215 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - František Hnilička
- Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 121, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic;
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Wang Q, Xu D, Yin B, Zheng Y, Guo X, Li Y, Sun X, Wang L, Wu N. Differences in seed characteristics, germination and seedling growth of Suaeda salsa grown in intertidal zone and on saline inland. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1175812. [PMID: 37941666 PMCID: PMC10628461 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1175812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
The ecological restoration of saline land in the Yellow River Delta is essential for the sustainability of this region. Halophytic species, like Suaeda salsa, are critical for the restoration process. However, potential differences in traits of heteromorphic seeds collected from the intertidal zone and inland condition have been largely overlooked. The seeds were analyzed for hardness, nutrient elements, and secretions, while structural differences were observed under a stereomicroscope. Germination percentages of the different seed types and subsequent seedling growth were also recorded. Our study found that the black seeds from intertidal zone had the highest hardness when compared to the three other types of seeds. Nutrient analysis revealed that brown seeds had a higher iron (Fe) content than black seeds. Accordingly, brown seed embryos were greener compared to their black seed counterparts due to the iron's role in chlorophyll synthesis. Our results also revealed that brown seeds secreted greater amounts of exudates than black seeds. Finally, both the intertidal brown seeds and the inland-grown brown seeds had higher germination percentages and better early seedling growth than the corresponding black seeds. The differential characteristics between dimorphic seeds and seedlings may influence their environmental adaptation in different saline environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qikang Wang
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineeringy, Ludong University, Yantai, China
| | - Deliang Xu
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineeringy, Ludong University, Yantai, China
| | - Benfeng Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China
| | - Yueling Zheng
- School of Geography and Environment, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Xiaohong Guo
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineeringy, Ludong University, Yantai, China
| | - Yating Li
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineeringy, Ludong University, Yantai, China
| | - Xiyan Sun
- Muping Coastal Environmental Research Station, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China
| | - Lei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China
| | - Nan Wu
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineeringy, Ludong University, Yantai, China
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