Gene-expression analysis of light-modulated gemination in tomato seeds.

GABRIELA A AUGE; SUSANA PERELMAN; CARLOS D CROCCO; RODOLFO A SÁNCHEZ; JAVIER F BOTTO

NEW PHYTOLOGIST

Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2009 vol. 183 p. 301 - 314

0028-646X

Tomato seed germination can be inhibited by continuous irradiation with far-red light (FRc) and re-induced by a subsequent red light pulse (Rp). We carried out a global transcript analysis of seeds subjected to FRc inhibitory treatment with and without a subsequent Rp, using Potato cDNA Microarrays. Microarray data showed that inhibition of germination by FRc involves the induction of a large number of genes and the repression of a significantly smaller quantity. Multivariate Analysis established an underlying pattern of expression dependent on physiological treatment and incubation time, and identified different groups of genes associated with dormancy maintenance, inhibition and promotion of germination. We showed that ELIP, CSN6, SOS2 and RBP are related with the photocontrol of germination. These genes are known to participate in other physiological processes but their participation in germination had not been previously suggested. Light quality regulates tomato seed transcriptome during phytochrome-modulated germination through changes in expression of certain sets of genes. In addition, ELIP and GIGANTEA were confirmed as components of the phyA-signalling pathway during FRc-inhibition of germination .