What happens when the rain is back? A hypothetical model on how germination and post-germination occur in a species from transient seed banks.

Bruna Luiza De Souza,Edvaldo Aparecido Amaral Da Silva,João Paulo Ribeiro-Oliveira,Gabriela Fernanda Dias,Juliana Pereira Bravo,Craig Eliot Coleman

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0229215

Bruna Luiza De Souza, Edvaldo Aparecido Amaral Da Silva + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229215

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Abstract

We hypothesize that by simulating the natural priming in seeds of a species that forms transient seed banks it is possible to clarify molecular aspects of germination that lead to the recruitment of seedlings when the next rainy season begins. We used seeds of Solanum lycocarpum as a biological model. Our findings support the idea that the increment of seed germination kinetics when the rainy season returns is mainly based on the metabolism and embryonic growth, and that the hydropriming, at the end of seed dispersion, increases the germination window time of these seeds by mainly increasing the degradation of galactomannan of the cell wall. This can improve the energy supply (based on carbon metabolism) for seedling growth in post-germination, which improves the seedling’s survival chances. From these findings, we promote a hypothetical model about how the priming at the end of the rainy season acts on mRNA synthesis in the germination of seeds from transient banks and the consequence of this priming at the beginning of the following rainy season. This model predicts that besides the Gibberellin and Abscisic Acid balance (content and sensitivity), Auxin would be a key component for the seed-seedling transition in Neotropical areas.Seed collection was performed under authorization number SISGEN AB0EB45.

Highlights

The formation of soil seed banks is what gives dynamism to natural forests and guarantees the flow of life on the planet
The germinability of Solanum lycocarpum seeds primed by water is similar to that of nonprimed seeds, fitting the Gompertz model with three parameters
This time reduction in seed germination range is not associated with the increment of uniformity of the germination process (CVt; Fig 1A and 1B), but with the precocity of the first and last seed germination in the sample

Summary

Introduction

The formation of soil seed banks is what gives dynamism to natural forests and guarantees the flow of life on the planet. Guarded by the dormancy state and/or ability to interrupt metabolism when there is water scarcity, these seeds remain in anhydrobiosis in the soil for brief periods (seeds of species that form transient banks) or long periods (seeds of species that form permanent banks)[1,2]. This is a species-specific ecophysiological aspect based on the genetic and/or epigenetic record that includes material from several specimens that have established. Seed germination and transient seed bank: What happens when the rain is back?

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