Plant Physiology Preview
Published on June 24, 2005; 10.1104/pp.105.061663
Received February 21, 2005
Returned for revision April 14, 2005
Accepted April 20, 2005
Water Uptake and Distribution in Germinating Tobacco Seeds Investigated in Vivo by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Bertram Manz , Kerstin Müller , Birgit Kucera , Frank Volke , and Gerhard Leubner-Metzger *
Fraunhofer-Institut für Biomedizinische Technik, Arbeitsgruppe Magnetische Resonanz, D-66386 St. Ingbert, Germany
Institut für Biologie II, Botanik/Pflanzenphysiologie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg i. Br., Germany
* Corresponding author; email: gerhard.leubner{at}biologie.uni-freiburg.de.
The regulation of water uptake of germinating tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) seeds was studied spatially and temporally by in vivo 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) microimaging and 1H-magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy. These nondestructive state-of-the-art methods showed that water distribution in the water uptake phases II and III is inhomogeneous. The micropylar seed end is the major entry point of water. The micropylar endosperm and the radicle show the highest hydration. Germination of tobacco follows a distinct pattern of events: rupture of the testa is followed by rupture of the endosperm. Abscisic acid (ABA) specifically inhibits endosperm rupture and phase III water uptake, but does not alter the spatial and temporal pattern of phase I and II water uptake. Testa rupture was associated with an increase in water uptake due to initial embryo elongation, which was not inhibited by ABA. Overexpression of  -1,3-glucanase in the seed-covering layers of transgenic tobacco seeds did not alter the moisture sorption isotherms or the spatial pattern of water uptake during imbibition, but partially reverted the ABA inhibition of phase III water uptake and of endosperm rupture. In vivo 13C-magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy showed that seed oil mobilization is not inhibited by ABA. ABA therefore does not inhibit germination by preventing oil mobilization or by decreasing the water-holding capacity of the micropylar endosperm and the radicle. Our results support the proposal that different seed tissues and organs hydrate at different extents and that the micropylar endosperm region of tobacco acts as a water reservoir for the embryo.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
|
|
 
A. Linkies, U. Schuster-Sherpa, S. Tintelnot, G. Leubner-Metzger, and K. Muller
Peroxidases identified in a subtractive cDNA library approach show tissue-specific transcript abundance and enzyme activity during seed germination of Lepidium sativum
J. Exp. Bot.,
October 30, 2009;
(2009)
erp318v1.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Iglesias-Fernandez and A. Matilla
After-ripening alters the gene expression pattern of oxidases involved in the ethylene and gibberellin pathways during early imbibition of Sisymbrium officinale L. seeds
J. Exp. Bot.,
April 1, 2009;
60(6):
1645 - 1661.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. R. Rathjen, E. V. Strounina, and D. J. Mares
Water movement into dormant and non-dormant wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grains
J. Exp. Bot.,
April 1, 2009;
60(6):
1619 - 1631.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Capitani, F. Brilli, L. Mannina, N. Proietti, and F. Loreto
In Situ Investigation of Leaf Water Status by Portable Unilateral Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Plant Physiology,
April 1, 2009;
149(4):
1638 - 1647.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Koizumi, K. Kikuchi, S. Isobe, N. Ishida, S. Naito, and H. Kano
Role of Seed Coat in Imbibing Soybean Seeds Observed by Micro-magnetic Resonance Imaging
Ann. Bot.,
September 1, 2008;
102(3):
343 - 352.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Garnczarska, T. Zalewski, and M. Kempka
Changes in water status and water distribution in maturing lupin seeds studied by MR imaging and NMR spectroscopy
J. Exp. Bot.,
November 17, 2007;
(2007)
erm250v1.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. Hermann, J. Meinhard, P. Dobrev, A. Linkies, B. Pesek, B. Hess, I. Machackova, U. Fischer, and G. Leubner-Metzger
1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid and abscisic acid during the germination of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.): a comparative study of fruits and seeds
J. Exp. Bot.,
September 4, 2007;
(2007)
erm162v2.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. W. Young, C. Parham, Z. Zhong, D. Chapman, and M. J. T. Reaney
Non-destructive diffraction enhanced imaging of seeds
J. Exp. Bot.,
July 1, 2007;
58(10):
2513 - 2523.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Cloetens, R. Mache, M. Schlenker, and S. Lerbs-Mache
Quantitative phase tomography of Arabidopsis seeds reveals intercellular void network
PNAS,
September 26, 2006;
103(39):
14626 - 14630.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. KIKUCHI, M. KOIZUMI, N. ISHIDA, and H. KANO
Water Uptake by Dry Beans Observed by Micro-magnetic Resonance Imaging
Ann. Bot.,
September 1, 2006;
98(3):
545 - 553.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. Vander Willigen, O. Postaire, C. Tournaire-Roux, Y. Boursiac, and C. Maurel
Expression and Inhibition of Aquaporins in Germinating Arabidopsis Seeds
Plant Cell Physiol.,
September 1, 2006;
47(9):
1241 - 1250.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Penfield, Y. Li, A. D. Gilday, S. Graham, and I. A. Graham
Arabidopsis ABA INSENSITIVE4 Regulates Lipid Mobilization in the Embryo and Reveals Repression of Seed Germination by the Endosperm
PLANT CELL,
August 1, 2006;
18(8):
1887 - 1899.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
