Is gene transcription involved in seed dry after-ripening?
Orthodox seeds are living organisms that survive anhydrobiosis and may display dormancy, an inability to germinate at harvest. Seed germination potential can be acquired during a prolonged period of dry storage called after-ripening. The aim of this work was to determine if gene transcription is an underlying regulatory mechanism for dormancy alleviation during after-ripening. To identify changes in gene transcription strictly associated with the acquisition of germination potential but not with storage, we used seed storage at low relative humidity that maintains dormancy as control. Transcriptome profiling was performed using DNA microarray to compare change in gene transcript abundance between dormant (D), after-ripened non-dormant (ND) and after-ripened dormant seeds (control, C). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to confirm gene expression. Comparison between D and ND showed the differential expression of 115 probesets at cut-off values of two-fold change (p<0.05). Comparisons between both D and C with ND in transcript abundance showed that only 13 transcripts, among 115, could be specific to dormancy alleviation. qPCR confirms the expression pattern of these transcripts but without significant variation between conditions. Here we show that sunflower seed dormancy alleviation in the dry state is not related to regulated changes in gene expression.
UMR 7622, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS, Bat C 2 ème étage, 4, place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.
Patrice
P
Meimoun
UMR 7622, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS, Bat C 2 ème étage, 4, place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.
Ernest
E
Mordret
Laboratoire Interactions Plantes-Microorganismes, INRA UMR 441, CNRS, UMR 2594, BP 52627, Chemin de Borde Rouge Auzeville, 31326 Castanet Tolosan, France.
Nicolas B
NB
Langlade
Unité de Recherche en Génomique Végétale (URGV), UMR INRA 1165 - CNRS 8114 - UEVE, F-91057 Evry Cedex, France.
Sandrine
S
Balzergue
Unité de Recherche en Génomique Végétale (URGV), UMR INRA 1165 - CNRS 8114 - UEVE, F-91057 Evry Cedex, France.
Sandrine
S
Arribat
UMR 7622, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS, Bat C 2 ème étage, 4, place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.
Christophe
C
Bailly
UMR 7622, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS, Bat C 2 ème étage, 4, place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.
Hayat
H
El-Maarouf-Bouteau
D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018525:Germination; D006368:Helianthus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D006813:Humidity; D057445:Plant Dormancy; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*