Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T00:23:20.980Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of soaking injury in seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris L. on germination, respiration and adenylate energy charge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

Johan C. Pretorius ,
J. G. Chris Small  and
Kurt V. Fagerstedt
Johan C. Pretorius*
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa
J. G. Chris Small
Affiliation:
University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa
Kurt V. Fagerstedt
Affiliation:
Department of Biosciences, Division of Plant Physiology, PO Box 56, FIN-00014Helsinki University, Finland
*
*Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Submerging Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Top Crop seed in air-saturated water for 16 h markedly depresses subsequent germination. This is termed soaking injury. The postulate by Norton (1986) that soak-injured seeds merely run out of available energy was investigated. Soaking in air-saturated water reduced the total respiration (VT; in terms of O2 uptake) of excised axes and cotyledons resulting in lower ATP levels. The contribution of both the mitochondrial cytochrome respiratory pathway (VCYT) and the alternative respiratory pathway (VALT) to the total respiration (VT) was significantly lower in these axes. However, the adenylate energy charge (AEC) values for both axes and cotyledons excised from soak-injured seeds did not drop below 0.6, the threshold value indicating death of plant material. Differences between the ultrastructure of mitochondria in the radicle tips of axes from unsoaked and water-soaked seeds were observed. However, the capacity to operate the Krebs cycle was similar in all axes and soak-injured seeds were still capable of germinating when the testas were removed or the seeds dried. This means that axes contained a sufficient amount of carbohydrates and potential energy to germinate after soaking. Moreover, soak-injured seeds produced ethanol at a rate which was five times higher than that of unsoaked control seeds, both during the soaking and post-soaking periods. Together with the low rate of oxygen consumption by soak-injured seeds during the same soaking and incubation time, it appears that soak-injured seeds lack the potential to switch from an anaerobic to an aerobic respiration pattern causing low ATP levels in these axes. It is speculated that the latter seems to be the result of limited pyruvate supply, probably due to accelerated and prolonged fermentation or futile combustion through other pathways or both.

Keywords

Cotyledonsembryonic axesfermentationKrebs cycle activitymitochondrial integrityPhaseolus vulgaristotal respiration (VT)
Type
Physiology and biochemistry
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , March 1998 , pp. 17 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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

Ap Rees, T (1980) Integration of pathways of synthesis and degradation of hexose phosphates, pp 1–42in Stumpf, P K and Conn, E E (Eds) The biochemistry of plants, Volume 3, New York, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Attucci, S, Carde, J P, Raymond, P, Saint-Gès, V, Spiteri, A and Pradet, A (1991) Oxidative phosphorilation by mitochondria extracted from dry sunflower seeds. Plant Physiology 95, 390–398.Google Scholar
Atkinson, D E (1977) Cellular energy metabolism and its regulation. New York, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bahr, J T and Bonner, W D (1973) Cyanide-insensitive respiration. Journal of Biological Chemistry 248, 3446–3450.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bewley, J D and Black, M (1978) Physiology and biochemistry of seeds in relation to germination. I. Development, germination and growth. Berlin, Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohinski, R C (1987) Modern concepts in biochemistry. 5th Edition. Boston, Allyn and Bacon, Inc.Google Scholar
Bradford, M M (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Analytical Biochemistry 72, 248–254.Google Scholar
Crawford, R M M (1977) Tolerance of anoxia and ethanol metabolism in germinating seeds. New Phytologist 79, 511–517.Google Scholar
Dart, P J, Day, J M and Harris, D (1972) Assay of nitrogenase activity by acetylene reduction. Technical booklet — grain legume production. Rome, FAO/International Atomic Energy AgencyGoogle Scholar
Forward, D F (1983) Respiration: A holistic approach to metabolism, pp 459–504in Steward, F C, Bidwell, R G S (Eds) Plant physiology: a treatise. Vol. VII. Energy and carbon metabolism. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Givan, C V and Torrey, J G (1968) Respiratory response to Acer pseudoplatanus cells to pyruvate and 2, 4-dinitrophenol. Plant Physiology 43, 635–640.Google Scholar
Gregory, K F and Purvis, H C (1965) Data reduction with constant-pressure respirometers. Analytical Biochemistry, 11, 519–531.Google Scholar
Hanhijärvi, A M and Fagerstedt, K V (1994) Comparison of the effect of natural and experimental anoxia on carbohydrate and energy metabolism in Iris pseudacorus rhizomes. Physiologia Plantarum 90, 437–444.Google Scholar
Kennedy, R A, Rumpho, M E and VanderZee, D (1983) Germination of Echinochloa crus-galli (barnyard grass) seeds under anaerobic conditions. Plant Physiology 72, 787–794.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennedy, R A, Fox, T C and Siedow, J N (1987) Activities of isolated mitochondria and mitochondrial enzymes from aerobically and anaerobically germinated barnyard grass (Echinochloa) seedlings. Plant Physiology 85, 474–480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kidd, F and West, C (1919) The influence of temperature on the soaking of seeds. New Phytologist 18, 35–39.Google Scholar
Leegood, R C and Ap Rees, T (1978) Phosphenolpyruvate carboxikinase and gluconeogenesis in cotyledons of Cucurbita pepo. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 524, 207–218.Google Scholar
Leopold, A C and Musgrave, M E (1980) Respiratory pathways in aged soybean seeds. Physiologia Plantarum 49, 49–54.Google Scholar
Lundin, A, Hasenson, M, Persson, J and Pousette, A (1986) Adenosine triphosphate assay. Methods in Enzymology 133, 27–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marbach, I and Mayer, A M (1982) Lack of embryonic axis control in Pisum cotyledon mitochondria. Phytochemistry 21, 823–826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, A M and Poljakoff-Mayber, A (1989) The germination of seeds. Oxford, Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Mayer, A M and Shain, Y (1974) Control of seed germination Annual. Review of Plant Physiology 25, 167–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morohashi, Y and Shimokoriyama, Y M (1975) Development of glycolytic and mitochondrial activities in the early phases of germination of Phaseolus mungo seeds. Journal of Experimental Botany 26, 932–938.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicolás, G and Aldasoro, J J (1979) Activity of the pentose phosphate pathway and changes in nicotinamide nucleotide content during germination of seeds of Cicer arientinum L. Journal of Experimental Botany 30, 1163–1170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norton, C R (1986) Germination under flooding: Metabolic implications and alleviation of injury. HortScience 21, 1123–1125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orphanos, P I and Heydecker, W (1968) On the nature of the soaking injury of Phaseolus vulgaris seeds. Journal of Experimental Botany 19, 770–784.Google Scholar
Perata, P and Alpi, A (1993) Plant responses to anaerobiosis. Plant Science 93, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pradet, A and Raymond, P (1983) Adenine nucleotide ratios and adenylate energy charge in energy metabolism. Annual Review of Plant Physiology 34, 199–224.Google Scholar
Pretorius, J C and Small, J G C (1991) The effect of soaking injury in bean seeds on protein synthesis in embryonic axes. Seed Science Research 1, 195–197.Google Scholar
Pretorius, J C and Small, J G C (1992) The effect of soaking injury in bean seeds on aspects of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway in embryonic axes. Seed Science Research 2, 33–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pretorius, J C and Small, J G C (1993) The effect of soaking injury in bean seeds on carbohydrate levels and sucrose phosphate synthase activity during germination. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 31, 25–34.Google Scholar
Raymond, P, Al-Ani, A and Pradet, A (1983) Low Contribution of nonrespiratory pathways in ATP regeneration during early germination of lettuce seeds. Physiologie Végétale 21, 677–219.Google Scholar
Reynolds, E S (1963) The use of lead citrate at high pH as an electron-opaque stain in electron microscopy. Journal of Cell Biology 17, 208–212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ricard, B, Couée, I, Raymond, P, Sagllo, P H, Saint-Gès, V and Pradet, A (1994) Plant metabolism under hypoxia and anoxia. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 32, 1–10.Google Scholar
Salveit, M E (1989) Effects of alcohols and their interaction with ethylene on the ripening of epidermal pericarp discs of tomato fruit. Plant Physiology 90, 167–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Small, J G C, Botha, F C, Pretorius, J C and Hoffman, E (1991) Evidence for an ethylene requirement to reduce soaking injury in bean seeds and the beneficial effect of heavy metals. Journal of Experimental Botany 42, 277–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomos, T, Malhotra, S S, Prasad, S, Malhotra, S K and Spencer, M (1972) Biochemical and structural changes in mitochondria and other cellular components of pea cotyledons during germination. Canadian Journal of Biochemistry 50, 725–737.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spurr, A R (1969) A low viscosity epoxy resin embedding medium for electron microscopy. Journal of Ultrastructure Research 26, 31–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Theologis, A and Laties, G G (1978) Relative contribution of cytochrome-mediated and cyanide-resistant electron transport in fresh and aged potato slices. Plant Physiology 62, 232–237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyler, P D and Crawford, R M M (1970) The role of shikimic acid in waterlogged roots and rhizomes of Iris pseudacorus L. Journal of Experimental Botany 21 (68), 677–682.Google Scholar
Vantoai, T T, Fausey, N R and McDonald, M B (1987) Anaerobic metabolism enzymes as markers of flooding stress in maize seeds. Plant and Soil 102, 33–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vartapetian, B B and Andreeva, I N (1986) Mitochondrial ultrastructure of three hygrophyte species at anoxia and in anoxic glucose supplemented medium. Journal of Experimental Botany 37 (178), 685–692.Google Scholar
Venter, H J T, Kotze, J D S and Verhoeven, R L (1990) A taxonomic revision of Ectadium Periplocaceae. South African Journal of Botany 56, 113–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walk, R A and Hock, B (1976) Mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase of watermelon cotyledons: Time course and mode of enzyme activity changes during germination. Planta 129, 27–32.Google Scholar
Wiskich, J T and Dry, I B (1985) The tricarboxylic acid cycle in plant mitochondria: Its operation and regulation, pp 281–314in Douce, R, Day, D A (Eds) Encyclopedia of plant physiology, New Series, Vol. 18. Berlin, Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar