English

Abstract

It is very important to establish an optimal seed priming process in order to increase the vitality of the seeds and promote the metabolism for the germination of the seeds. The optimum concentrations and species of priming agents to improve seed germination of both medicinal plants were also estimated. To improve the germination rate of Perilla frutescens(Korean perilla) seeds, various seed priming agents were used to analyze seed germination rates in the Saeyeopsil, Okdong and 141 collection Korean perilla cultivars. The agents used for seed priming were CaCl2, Ca(NO3)2, NaCl, K3PO4, polyethylene glycol, and gibberellic acid (GA3). When 0.1 mMGA3was used for seed priming, germination rates of Okdong, and the 141 collection showed a greater than 70% increase compared to the controls. Nine genes were selected for expression analysis by searching for genes related to seed germination and plant development in the EST(Expressed Sequence Tag) database of the Korean perilla cDNA library. GA3priming treatment for 1 d induced higher transcriptional levels of genes related to germination and plant developmentthan controls treated with water only. These genes were identified as protochlorophyllide reductase-like, magnesium-chelatase subunit ChlI, heme-binding protein 2-like, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase A, Chlorophyll a-b binding protein 6, B2 protein, 2-Cys peroxiredoxin BAS1, and 21 kDa protein. From these results, we suggest that when priming Korean perilla seeds with GA3, a large number of genes involved in plant development at early stages of seed germination play a role in improving the seed germination rate. Also, these induced genes are ideal candidate biomarkers for seed priming of Korean perilla. Specially, protochlorophyllide reductase-like is thought to be a potential gene for future molecular marker.© 2021 Friends Science Publishers