Proanthocyanidins accelerate the germination of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seeds

• Published in: Journal of plant biology = Singmul Hakhoe chi Vol. 59; no. 2; pp. 143 - 151
• Main Authors: Zhu, Li-jun, Deng, Xing-guang, Zou, Li-juan, Wu, Jun-qiang, Zhang, Da-wei, Lin, Hong-hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2016; Springer Nature B.V; 한국식물학회
• Subjects: Abscisic acid; Alternative oxidase; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cucumbers; Ethylene; Flavonoids; Gene expression; Germination; Gibberellins; Hydrogen peroxide; Life Sciences; Original Article; Plant Breeding/Biotechnology; Plant Ecology; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Sciences; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Pretreatment; Proanthocyanidins; Seed germination; Seeds; 생물학; Abscisic acid; Cucumber seed; Gibberellins; ROS; Proanthocyanidins
• ISSN: 1226-9239; 1867-0725
• DOI: 10.1007/s12374-016-0510-9

Proanthocyanidins (PAs) are the end products of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway in many seeds, but their biological function is rarely unknown during seed germination. In the present study, we observed that PAs pretreatment accelerated cucumber seeds germination with maximum efficiency at 0.15% by measuring germination percentage and radical length. Using inhibitors of abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellins (GA) and alternative oxidase (AOX) and H 2 O 2 scavenger pretreatment and gene expression analysis, we found that the accelerated effect of 0.15% PAs on seed germination was due to the decreased ABA biogenesis and enhanced GA production. ROS are induced by PAs pretreatment. Then, the enhanced ROS contributed to GA and ethylene accumulation and ABA decrease in seeds. Moreover, the improvement of GA was involved in the further induction of antioxidant enzymes activities. Therefore, our findings uncover a novel role of PAs in seed germination and clarify the relationships between ROS, ABA, GA and ethylene during seed germination.