Some seeds store better than others

Abstract

Plant Science Seeds from species of the genus Coffea , although intolerant to complete drying, reflect a range of tolerance to desiccation. Stavrinides et al. studied seed transcriptomes and proteomes to investigate the divergent response to desiccation. In two Coffea species that produce seeds tolerant to desiccation, stress-related genes were up-regulated during seed development and mitochondrial physiology was down-regulated. In a Coffea species with seeds less tolerant to desiccation, genes involved in auxin production and response were up-regulated. The authors conclude that the seeds best positioned to withstand desiccation are those that can shut down respiration and tolerate oxidative stress. J. Exp. Bot. 10.1093/jxb/erz508 (2019).