A small-scale fractionation pipeline for rapid analysis of seed mucilage characteristics

James M Cowley,Kylie A Neumann,Rachel A Burton,Lina Herliana,Silvano Ciani,Virna Cerne

doi:10.1186/s13007-020-00569-6

Abstract

BackgroundMyxospermy is a process by which the external surfaces of seeds of many plant species produce mucilage—a polysaccharide-rich gel with numerous fundamental research and industrial applications. Due to its functional properties the mucilage can be difficult to remove from the seed and established methods for mucilage extraction are often incomplete, time-consuming and unnecessarily wasteful of precious seed stocks.ResultsHere we tested the efficacy of several established protocols for seed mucilage extraction and then downsized and adapted the most effective elements into a rapid, small-scale extraction and analysis pipeline. Within 4 h, three chemically- and functionally-distinct mucilage fractions were obtained from myxospermous seeds. These fractions were used to study natural variation and demonstrate structure–function links, to screen for known mucilage quality markers in a field trial, and to identify research and industry-relevant lines from a large mutant population.ConclusionThe use of this pipeline allows rapid analysis of mucilage characteristics from diverse myxospermous germplasm which can contribute to fundamental research into mucilage production and properties, quality testing for industrial manufacturing, and progressing breeding efforts in myxospermous crops.

Highlights

Myxospermy is a process by which the external surfaces of seeds of many plant species produce mucilage—a polysaccharide-rich gel with numerous fundamental research and industrial applications
[24] The dual-layered nature of Arabidopsis thaliana mucilage has been the basis of many studies on cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis [25] and Yu et al [26,27,28] have recently highlighted the importance of fractionating mucilage to effectively unravel structural differences that underlie polysaccharide functionality
Flax (Linum usitatissimum) and chia (Salvia hispanica) seeds were purchased from Woolworths (Frewville, South Australia)

Summary

Introduction

Myxospermy is a process by which the external surfaces of seeds of many plant species produce mucilage—a polysaccharide-rich gel with numerous fundamental research and industrial applications. More recently other myxospermous species like Linum usitatissimum and Plantago ovata have been adopted as genetic models [9,10,11,12,13,14] revealing the utility that novel systems can have in unravelling complex synthetic pathways. These novel model systems have the added benefit of being directly commercially-relevant. Its multi-layered nature is evident by visual inspection of stained expanded mucilage in most species [24] The dual-layered nature of Arabidopsis thaliana mucilage has been the basis of many studies on cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis [25] and Yu et al [26,27,28] have recently highlighted the importance of fractionating mucilage to effectively unravel structural differences that underlie polysaccharide functionality

Methods

Results

Conclusion