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. 2021 Aug 30:12:707184.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.707184. eCollection 2021.

Comparative Proteomics at the Critical Node of Vigor Loss in Wheat Seeds Differing in Storability

Xiuling Chen  1   2 , Andreas Börner  3 , Xia Xin  1 , Manuela Nagel  3 , Juanjuan He  1 , Jisheng Li  2 , Na Li  2 , Xinxiong Lu  1 , Guangkun Yin  1
Affiliations

Comparative Proteomics at the Critical Node of Vigor Loss in Wheat Seeds Differing in Storability

Xiuling Chen et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

The critical node (CN, 85% germination) of seed viability is an important threshold for seed regeneration decisions after long-term conservation. Dependent on the germplasm, the storage period until CN is reached varies and information on the divergence of the proteomic profiles is limited. Therefore, the study aims to identify key proteins and mechanisms relevant for a long plateau phase and a late CN during artificial seed aging of wheat. Seeds of the storage-tolerant genotype (ST) TRI 23248, and the storage-sensitive genotype (SS) TRI 10230 were exposed to artificial ageing (AA) and extracted embryos of imbibed seeds were analyzed using an iTRAQ-based proteomic technique. ST and SS required AA for 24 and 18 days to reach the CN, respectively. Fifty-seven and 165 differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) were observed in the control and aged groups, respectively. Interestingly, a higher activity in metabolic processes, protein synthesis, transcription, cell growth/division, and signal transduction were already found in imbibed embryos of control ST seeds. After AA, 132 and 64 DAPs were accumulated in imbibed embryos of both aged ST and SS seeds, respectively, which were mainly associated with cell defense, rescue, and metabolism. Moreover, 78 DAPs of ST appeared before CN and were mainly enriched in biological pathways related to the maintenance of redox and carbon homeostasis and they presented a stronger protein translation ability. In contrast, in SS, only 3 DAPs appeared before CN and were enriched only in the structural constituents of the cytoskeleton. In conclusion, a longer span of plateau phase might be obtained in seeds when proteins indicate an intense stress response before CN and include the effective maintenance of cellular homeostasis, and avoidance of excess accumulation of cytotoxic compounds. Although key proteins, inherent factors and the precise regulatory mechanisms need to be further investigated, the found proteins may also have functional potential roles during long-term seed conservation.

Keywords: artificial aging; differentially accumulated proteins; long-term storage; seed longevity; wheat.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Seed viability curves and P50 of the storage-tolerant (ST) wheat accession TRI 23248 and the storage-sensitive (SS) accession TRI 10230 following artificial aging treatment. Mean and standard error of three replicates is given. ST90, ST80, ST60, SS90, SS80, and SS60 represent stages (PI, PII, PIII) around and close to the critical node (CN) of seed germination (85%) that were used to proteomic analysis. The half-viability period (P50) is given for ST and SS seeds. Color code provided in the figure.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Functional classification of identified differentially abundant proteins between the untreated control group of the storage-tolerant (ST) and of the storage-sensitive (SS) embryos with upregulation (blue) or downregulation (red) according to Bevan et al. (1998) and Zhang et al. (2016). SSCK/STCK represented the comparison of protein abundance between the control group of ST and SS seeds.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Distribution and function of differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) resulting from artificial aging treatment of storage-tolerant (ST) and storage-sensitive (SS) seed. The Venn diagram shows the distribution of DAPs in ST (A) and SS (B) embryos around (SS90/ST90 and SS60/ST60) and close to the critical node (SS80/ST80 and their intersection) (C). The Pie chart shows the functional classification according to Bevan et al. (1998) and Zhang et al. (2016). 132 DAPs were found in imbibed embryos of ST seeds (D), and 64 DAPs in imbibed embryos of SS seeds (E). % is given of the total number of proteins in ST and SS embryos, respectively, UP, upregulated DAPs; and DOWN, downregulated DAPs.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Enrichment analysis for GO annotation of differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) resulting from imbibed embryos of aged storage-tolerant (ST) and storage-sensitive (SS) wheat accessions. GO categories were assigned as significant thresholds for correlation statistics (p < 0.05).
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Cluster analysis and GO categories for differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) around (SS90/ST90 and SS60/ST60) and close to the critical node (SS80/ST80) extracted from embryos of imbibed seeds. Up-accumulation of aged storage-tolerant (ST) seeds (A) and aged storage-sensitive (SS) seeds (B) and down-accumulation of ST seeds (C) and SS seeds (D). GO category represent annotation in DAPs with significant trend of upregulation (red) or downregulation (green).
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