Dynamic of the processes leading to the acquisition of sensitivity to very low fluence of photons in Datura ferox seeds

GABRIELA A AUGE; LUCILA DE MIGUEL

SEED SCIENCE RESEARCH

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2013 vol. 23 p. 233 - 239

0960-2585

Soil tillage operations stimulate germination of buried seeds in cultivated lands, allowing them to perceive light as a germination-promoting factor. The time of burial and the effect of changing environmental factors affect the physiological state of the seeds, which may lead to an extreme light-sensitivity and very low fluence response (VLFR) through phytochrome A. This paper describes the influence of the progressive process of Dormancy breakage, which is accompanied by the acquisition of extreme light-sensitivity, on processes associated with endosperm weakening and embryo growth potential in the VLFR-mediated promotion of Datura ferox seed germination. Our results show that endosperm weakening is mainly limited by b-mannosidase enzyme activity after far-red light stimulation, which is highly dependent on the dormancy level of theseeds. In addition, stimulation of the embryo growth potential by far-red irradiation did not require an extreme light-sensitivity to very low fluence of photons to reach its maximum response, and it was not completely correlated with expansin gene expression in the embryo. Our work indicates that responses of endosperm weakening and embryo growth potential to far-red irradiation, dependent on dormancy level, have different requirements for stimulation by the signalling network initiated by phytochrome A during the course of the very low fluence response in Datura ferox seeds.