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Spermidine enhanced the antioxidant capacity of rice seeds during seed aging

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Abstract

Seed aging is a problem during long-term seed storage, affecting the commercial and germplasm value of seeds. In this study, a widely cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivar, Huanghuazhan, was used to investigate the effects of exogenous spermidine (Spd) on accelerated aging (AA). The results showed that the speed of germination and the activities of catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and β-amylase were reduced by AA, and more H2O2 accumulated in aged seeds than in normal seeds. As compared with aged seeds pretreated with water, seed vigor and the gibberellic acid (GA) content in aged seeds pretreated with Spd were increased by 47% and 17%, respectively. Furthermore, antioxidant enzyme activity and related gene expression were also higher in aged seeds pretreated with Spd. It is speculated that CAT and APX are the two primary enzymes involved in the effects of Spd to AA. These results suggest that the adverse effect of AA stress on seeds may be partially alleviated by the application of exogenous Spd, which may affect the scavenging of reactive oxygen species.

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Abbreviations

AA:

Accelerated aging

PAs:

Polyamines

Spd:

Spermidine

CAT:

Catalase

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidases

GA:

Gibberellin acid

ABA:

Abscisic acid

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

PCD:

Programmed cell death

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

POD:

Peroxidase

MT:

Metallothionein

GR:

Glutathione reductase

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxide

GE:

Germination energy

GI:

Germination index

GP:

Germination percentage

HAI:

Hours after imbibition

MGT:

Mean germination time

SL:

Seedling length

DW:

Dry weight of 10 seedlings

qRT-PCR:

Quantitative real-time PCR

CK:

Control

WBA:

Seeds treated with water before AA

SBA:

Seeds treated with Spd before AA

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grants from Shenzhen Science Technology and Innovation Commission (International Collaborative Funding), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018M633162 and 2019M663122), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31201279, 31371708 and 31671774), and the Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production, People's Republic of China.

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Author notes

  1. Qi-Juan Hu, Mo-Xian Chen, and Tao Song contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China

    Qi-Juan Hu, Mo-Xian Chen, Tao Song, Chao-Lin Cheng, Yuan Tian & Jian-Hua Zhang

  2. Seed Science Center, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Qi-Juan Hu & Jin Hu

  3. Shenzhen Noposion Agrochemicals Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China

    Qi-Juan Hu

  4. Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China

    Jian-Hua Zhang

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  1. Qi-Juan Hu
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Hu, QJ., Chen, MX., Song, T. et al. Spermidine enhanced the antioxidant capacity of rice seeds during seed aging. Plant Growth Regul 91, 397–406 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-020-00613-4

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