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Abscisic acid controls embryo growth potential and endosperm cap weakening during coffee (Coffea arabica cv. Rubi) seed germination

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Abstract

The mechanism and regulation of coffee seed germination were studied in Coffea arabica L. cv. Rubi. The coffee embryo grew inside the endosperm prior to radicle protrusion and abscisic acid (ABA) inhibited the increase in its pressure potential. There were two steps of endosperm cap weakening. An increase in cellulase activity coincided with the first step and an increase in endo-β-mannanase (EBM) activity with the second step. ABA inhibited the second step of endosperm cap weakening, presumably by inhibiting the activities of at least two EBM isoforms and/or, indirectly, by inhibiting the pressure force of the radicle. The increase in the activities of EBM and cellulase coincided with the decrease in the force required to puncture the endosperm and with the appearance of porosity in the cell walls as observed by low-temperature scanning electronic microscopy. Tissue printing showed that EBM activity was spatially regulated in the endosperm. Activity was initiated in the endosperm cap whereas later during germination it could also be detected in the remainder of the endosperm. Tissue printing revealed that ABA inhibited most of the EBM activity in the endosperm cap, but not in the remainder of the endosperm. ABA did not inhibit cellulase activity. There was a transient rise in ABA content in the embryo during imbibition, which was likely to be responsible for slow germination, suggesting that endogenous ABA also may control embryo growth potential and the second step of endosperm cap weakening during coffee seed germination.

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Abbreviations

ABA :

Abscisic acid

EBM :

Endo-β-mannanase

IEF :

Iso-electric focusing

SEM :

Scanning electron microscopy

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Acknowledgements

The seed laboratory at Lavras Federal University-MG-Brazil (UFLA) is acknowledged for handling and shipping the coffee seeds to The Netherlands. We are grateful to Richard Bourgault of the Department of Botany, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada for his help with the IEF gels. We also thank Ms Katja Grolle at the Department of Food Science for her technical advice on the material tester. Plant Research International-The Netherlands is acknowledged for the use of the psychrometer. We thank CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior-Brazil), for financial support of the studies of E.A. Amaral da Silva (project number: 1485/96-2).

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Correspondence to Henk W. M. Hilhorst.

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da Silva, E.A.A., Toorop, P.E., van Aelst, A.C. et al. Abscisic acid controls embryo growth potential and endosperm cap weakening during coffee (Coffea arabica cv. Rubi) seed germination. Planta 220, 251–261 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1344-0

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