Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T15:20:28.630Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Arabidopsis thaliana embryo arrest mutant exhibiting germination potential

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2008

Jessica R. Kristof ,
Jennifer L. Coppersmith ,
Kyung Hong ,
Po-Pu Liu ,
Tanja M. Homrichhausen ,
Jing Sun ,
Ruth C. Martin  and
Hiroyuki Nonogaki
Jessica R. Kristof
Affiliation:
Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR97331, USA
Jennifer L. Coppersmith
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR97331, USA
Kyung Hong
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR97331, USA
Po-Pu Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR97331, USA
Tanja M. Homrichhausen
Affiliation:
Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR97331, USA
Jing Sun
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR97331, USA
Ruth C. Martin
Affiliation:
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Forage Seed Production Research Center, 3450 SW Campus Way, Corvallis, OR97331-7102, USA
Hiroyuki Nonogaki*
Affiliation:
Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR97331, USA
*
*Correspondence Fax: +1 (541) 737-3479[email protected]Present addresses:
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The ability to initiate radicle elongation, or germination potential, occurs in developing embryos before the completion of seed maturation. Green embryos after the walking-stick stage in developing Arabidopsis thaliana seeds germinate when excised from seeds and incubated in Murashige–Skoog (MS) medium containing 1% sucrose. Germination potential is not observed during early embryogenesis at the globular, heart and torpedo stages. Here, we describe an Arabidopsis mutant with embryos arrested at early stages of development, but still exhibiting germination potential. The mutant, termed embryo ball (eb), produced shrunken seeds containing round or irregularly shaped embryos that did not germinate. The round embryos excised from developing eb seeds were capable of growing a primary root with root hairs when incubated in media. In contrast, cotyledons were absent at the apical region of the eb embryos, although the apical region produced leaf-like structures with trichomes, indicating vegetative leaf identity. These observations suggested that morphological maturation was not essential for the induction of germination potential. The eb embryos exhibited partial desiccation tolerance that is characteristic of mature embryos at later stages of development, suggesting that cell maturation was also independent of morphological maturation. The eb mutant provides novel information on cell and tissue identity in developmental biology, as well as a useful tool to dissect the mechanisms underlying the induction of germination potential in developing seeds.

Keywords

Arabidopsiscotyledon identitydesiccation tolerancedevelopmental arrestembryo ballembryogenesisgerminationseed maturation
Type
Research Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 55 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, T.F. (1951) Techniques for the preservation of three-dimensional structure in preparing specimens for the electron microscope. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences 13, 130–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baud, S., Bellec, Y., Miquel, M., Bellini, C., Caboche, M., Lepiniec, L., Faure, J.D. and Rochat, C. (2004) Gurke and pasticcino3 mutants affected in embryo development are impaired in acetyl-CoA carboxylase. EMBO Reports 5, 515–520.Google Scholar
Bewley, J.D. and Black, M. (1994) Germinability during development. pp. 117–119 in Seeds: physiology of development and germination (2nd edition). New York, Prenum Press.Google Scholar
Chen, J.-G., Ullah, H., Young, J.C., Sussman, M.R. and Jones, A.M. (2001) ABP1 is required for organized cell elongation and division in Arabidopsis embryogenesis. Genes and Development 15, 902–911.Google Scholar
Homrichhausen, T.M., Hewitt, J.R. and Nonogaki, H. (2003) Endo-β-mannanase activity is associated with the completion of embryogenesis in imbibed carrot (Daucus carota L.) seeds. Seed Science Research 13, 219–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jürgens, G. (2001) Apical-basal pattern formation in Arabidopsis embryogenesis. EMBO Journal 20, 3609–3616.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kajiwara, T., Furutani, M., Hibara, K. and Tasaka, M. (2004) The GURKE gene encoding an acetyl-CoA carboxylase is required for partitioning the embryo apex into three subregions in Arabidopsis. Plant and Cell Physiology 45, 1122–1128.Google Scholar
Li, Z. and Thomas, T.L. (1998) PEI1, an embryo-specific zinc finger protein gene required for heart-stage embryo formation in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 10, 383–398.Google Scholar
Murashige, T. and Skoog, F. (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiologia Plantarum 15, 473–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogawa, M., Hanada, A., Yamauchi, Y., Kuwahara, A., Kamiya, Y. and Yamaguchi, S. (2003) Gibberellin biosynthesis and response during Arabidopsis seed germination. Plant Cell 15, 1591–1604.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raghavan, V. (2002) Induction of vivipary in Arabidopsis by silique culture: implications for seed dormancy and germination. American Journal of Botany 89, 766–776.Google Scholar
Raz, V., Bergervoet, J.H.W. and Koornneef, M. (2001) Sequential steps for developmental arrest in Arabidopsis seeds. Development 128, 243–252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sparkes, I.A., Brandizzi, F., Slocombe, S.P., El-Shami, M., Hawes, C. and Baker, A. (2003) An Arabidopsis pex10 null mutant is embryo lethal, implicating peroxisomes in an essential role during plant embryogenesis. Plant Physiology 133, 1809–1819.Google Scholar
Torres-Ruiz, R.A., Lohner, A. and Jürgens, G. (1996) The GURKE gene is required for normal organization of the apical region in the Arabidopsis embryo. Plant Journal 10, 1005–1016.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Treml, B.S., Winderl, S., Radykewicz, R., Herz, M., Schweizer, G., Hutzler, P., Glawischnig, E. and Ruiz, R.A.T. (2005) The gene ENHANCER OF PINOID controls cotyledon development in the Arabidopsis embryo. Development 132, 4063–4074.Google Scholar