College of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450001, China.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 31;17(3):e0263553. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263553. eCollection 2022.
During the seed aging process, reactive oxygen species (ROS) can induce the carbonylation of proteins, which changes their functional properties and affects seed vigor. However, the impact and regulatory mechanisms of protein carbonylation on wheat seed vigor are still unclear. In this study, we investigated the changes in wheat seed vigor, carbonyl protein content, ROS content and embryo cell structure during an artificial aging process, and we analyzed the correlation between protein carbonylation and seed vigor. During the artificial wheat-seed aging process, the activity levels of antioxidant enzymes and the contents of non-enzyme antioxidants decreased, leading to the accumulation of ROS and an increase in the carbonyl protein content, which ultimately led to a decrease in seed vigor, and there was a significant negative correlation between seed vigor and carbonyl protein content. Moreover, transmission electron microscopy showed that the contents of protein bodies in the embryo cells decreased remarkably. We postulate that during the wheat seed aging process, an imbalance in ROS production and elimination in embryo cells leads to the carbonylation of proteins, which plays a negative role in wheat seed vigor.
在种子老化过程中，活性氧（ROS）会诱导蛋白质发生羰基化，从而改变其功能特性并影响种子活力。然而，蛋白质羰基化对小麦种子活力的影响及其调控机制仍不清楚。本研究通过人工老化试验，研究了小麦种子活力、羰基化蛋白含量、ROS 含量和胚细胞结构的变化，并分析了蛋白质羰基化与种子活力之间的相关性。在人工小麦种子老化过程中，抗氧化酶活性和非酶抗氧化剂含量降低，导致 ROS 积累和羰基化蛋白含量增加，最终导致种子活力下降，种子活力与羰基化蛋白含量呈显著负相关。此外，透射电子显微镜显示胚细胞中蛋白体的含量明显减少。我们推测，在小麦种子老化过程中，胚细胞中 ROS 的产生和清除失衡导致蛋白质发生羰基化，从而对小麦种子活力产生负面影响。
