Yazdanpanah Farzaneh, Hanson Johannes, Hilhorst Henk W M, Bentsink Leónie
Wageningen Seed Laboratory, Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708, PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Umeå Plant Science Center, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden.
BMC Plant Biol. 2017 Sep 11;17(1):151. doi: 10.1186/s12870-017-1098-z.
Seed dormancy, defined as the incapability of a viable seed to germinate under favourable conditions, is an important trait in nature and agriculture. Despite extensive research on dormancy and germination, many questions about the molecular mechanisms controlling these traits remain unanswered, likely due to its genetic complexity and the large environmental effects which are characteristic of these quantitative traits. To boost research towards revealing mechanisms in the control of seed dormancy and germination we depend on the identification of genes controlling those traits.
We used transcriptome analysis combined with a reverse genetics approach to identify genes that are prominent for dormancy maintenance and germination in imbibed seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana. Comparative transcriptomics analysis was employed on freshly harvested (dormant) and after-ripened (AR; non-dormant) 24-h imbibed seeds of four different DELAY OF GERMINATION near isogenic lines (DOGNILs) and the Landsberg erecta (Ler) wild type with varying levels of primary dormancy. T-DNA knock-out lines of the identified genes were phenotypically investigated for their effect on dormancy and AR.
We identified conserved sets of 46 and 25 genes which displayed higher expression in seeds of all dormant and all after-ripened DOGNILs and Ler, respectively. Knock-out mutants in these genes showed dormancy and germination related phenotypes.
Most of the identified genes had not been implicated in seed dormancy or germination. This research will be useful to further decipher the molecular mechanisms by which these important ecological and commercial traits are regulated.
种子休眠被定义为有活力的种子在适宜条件下不能萌发的现象，这是自然界和农业中的一个重要特性。尽管对休眠和萌发进行了广泛研究，但关于控制这些特性的分子机制仍有许多问题未得到解答，这可能是由于其遗传复杂性以及这些数量性状所特有的大环境效应。为了推动揭示种子休眠和萌发控制机制的研究，我们依赖于鉴定控制这些性状的基因。
我们使用转录组分析结合反向遗传学方法来鉴定在拟南芥吸胀种子中对休眠维持和萌发起重要作用的基因。对四个不同的延迟萌发近等基因系（DOGNILs）以及具有不同程度初级休眠的野生型直立型兰茨贝格（Ler）新鲜收获（休眠）和后熟（AR；非休眠）24小时吸胀种子进行了比较转录组学分析。对鉴定出的基因的T-DNA敲除系进行表型研究，以探究其对休眠和后熟的影响。
我们鉴定出分别在所有休眠和所有后熟的DOGNILs及Ler种子中表达较高的46个和25个保守基因集。这些基因的敲除突变体表现出与休眠和萌发相关的表型。
大多数鉴定出的基因此前未被认为与种子休眠或萌发有关。这项研究将有助于进一步解读调控这些重要生态和商业性状的分子机制。
