Abstract
Selective organectomy in young seedlings of Cicer arietinum has provided a unique approach to investigate a variety of growth correlative phenomena that are manifested through axillary bud differentiation and branch growth. The present study was aimed at gaining better insight of the regulatory influence exerted by the cotyledons on the overall growth pattern. Here the modified seedling system has been employed to investigate the nutritional contributions of the cotyledons by analyzing the available storage reserves, the temporal pattern of their depletions, and coincidental gains in biomass during seedling establishment. The retained cotyledons appear to play a significant role in the subsistence of the seedlings. It was observed that increment in seedling biomass did not always match with the cotyledonary depletions accompanying seedling growth. The quantitative difference in terms of gross biomass ratio of net seedling gains to cotyledonary depletion, over a 4-week growth period, was significantly negative for the first two weeks, becoming positive thereafter. The transition of these ratios from negative to positive is indicative of a reducing cotyledonary contribution towards seedling growth. The transition was delayed by one week upon complete deshooting due to deferred onset of fresh growth in the form of axillary branches in such cases. Although the two major cotyledonary mobilizable polymers i.e. starch and soluble proteins had an initial pool size, respectively, of 39.48 and 20.14% of dry seed weight, these were utilised to more or less similar extent (93%).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Azhar S, Srivastava AK, Krishna Murti CR (1972) Compositional changes during the germination of Cicer arietinum L. Phytochem 11:3173–3179. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)86368-2
Benitez V, Cantera S, Aguilera Y, Molla E, Esteban RM, Diaz MF, Martin-Cabrejas MA (2013) Impact of germination on starch, dietry fiber and physiochemical properties in non-conventional legumes. Food Res Int 50(1):64–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2012.09.044
Bewley JD (2001) Seed germination and reserve mobilization. Encyclopedia of life sciences. http://www.sgpwe.izt.uam.mx/files/users/uami/jicc/BCM/6_seed_germination.pdf. Accessed 9 Apr 2022
Bewley JD, Black M (1994) Seeds: physiology of development and germination, 3rd edn. Plenum Press, New York
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilising the principles of protein dye binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-2697(76)90527-3
Devi TK, Sreekumar K, Madhusudanan KN (1989) Epicotyl excision and reserve mobilization in winged bean. Proc Ind Acad Sci 99:411–416
Guardiola JL, Sutcliffe JF (1971) Control of protein hydrolysis in the cotyledons of germinating pea (Pisum sativum L.) seeds. Ann Bot 35(4):791–807. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a084524
Jukanti AK, Gaur PM, Gowda CLL, Chibbar RN (2012) Nutritional quality and health benefits of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.): a review. Br J Nutr 108(S1):S11-26. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114512000797
Kaur M, Tak Y, Bhatia S, Asthir B, Lorenzo JM, Amarowicz R (2021) Crosstalk during the carbon-nitrogen cycle that interlinks the biosynthesis, mobilization and accumulation of seed storage reserves. Int J Mol Sci 22:12032. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222112032
Kim HT, Choi U, Ryu HS, Lee SJ, Kwon O (2011) Mobilization of storage proteins in soyabean seed (Glycine max L.) during germination and seedling growth. Biochim Biophys Acta 1814(9):1178–1187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbapap.2011.05.004
Kirmizi S, Guleryuz G (2006) Protein mobilization and proteolytic enzyme activity during seed germination. Zeitschrift Fur Naturforschung C 61(3–4):222–226. https://doi.org/10.1515/znc-2006-3-411
Loewus FA (1952) Improvement in anthrone method for determination of carbohydrates. Anal Chem 24:219. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac60061a050
Malek L (1987) Protein mobilization from cotyledons of de-shooted pea seedling. Can J Bot 65(6):1083–1086. https://doi.org/10.1139/b87-150
Metivier J, Paulilo MT (1980a) The utilization of cotyledonary reserves in Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Carioca: I. Changes in total amylolytic and proteolytic activity and effects of 6-benzyladenine and gibberellic acid upon whole seedlings. J Exp Bot 31:1257–1270. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/31.5.1257
Metivier J, Paulilo MT (1980b) The utilisation of cotyledonary reserves in Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Carioca: II. The effects of 6-benzyladenine and gibberellic acid upon embryonated and detached cotyledons. J Exp Bot 31:1271–1282. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/31.5.1271
Minamikawa T, Suzuki Y, Koshiba T (1983) Metabolic changes in axes of germinating Vigna unguiculata seeds as related to effects of removal of cotyledons. Plant Cell Physiol 24(8):1361–1369. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.pcp.a076656
Morris DL (1948) Quantitative determination of carbohydrates with Draywood’s anthrone reagent. Science 107:254–255. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.107.2775.254
Muntz K (1996) Protease and proteolytic cleavage of storage proteins in developing and germinating dicotyledonous seed. J Exp Bot 47:605–622. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/47.5.605
Nandi SK, Palni LMS, deKlerk GJM (1995) The influence of the embryonic axis and cytokinins on reserve mobilization in germinating lupin seeds. J Exp Bot 46:329–336. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/46.3.329
Pfeiffer I, Kutschera V (1996) Sucrose metabolism and lipid metabolism during light induced expansion of sunflower cotyledons. J Plant Physiol 147:553–558. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0176-1617(96)80045-9
Pino E, Martin L, Guerra H, Nicolas G, Villalobos N (1990) The effect of dihydrozeatin on the mobilization of protein reserves in the cotyledons of chick-pea seeds. J Plant Physiol 135:698–702. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0176-1617(11)80882-5
Saluja S, Sawhney S (2003) Interorgan influences in seedling growth of chickpea revealed through selective organectomy. Ind J Plant Physiol 8(3 N.S.):205–213
Saluja S, Sawhney S (2006) Deshooting-activated cotyledonary axillary bud growth and its correlation with nodal vasculature in chickpea seedlings. Phytomorphology 56(1&2):1–6
Saminu NM, Muhammad Y (2022) Seed storage protein changes and mobilization patterns in Bambaranut (Vigna subterranea)(L.) Verdc. during germination. Plant Sci Today 8(4):1049–56. https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.2021.8.4.1257
Schlereth A, Becker C, Horstmann C, Tiedemann J, Muntz K (2000) Comparision of globulin mobilization and cysteine proteinases in embryonic axes and cotyledons during germination and seedling growth of vetch (Vicia sativa L.). J Expt Bot 51(349):1423–1433. https://doi.org/10.1093/jexbot/51.349.1423
Shewry PR, Napier JA, Tatham AS (1995) Seed storage proteins: structure and biosynthesis. Plant Cell 7:945–956. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.7.7.945
Tan-Wilson A, Wilson KA (2012) Mobilization of seed protein reserves. Physiol Plant 145(1):140–145. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-3054.2011.01535.x
Viles FJ Jr, Silverman L (1949) Determination of starch and cellulose with an throne. Anal Chem 21:950–953. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac60032a019
Whelan EJ (1955) Starch, glycogen, fructosans and similar polysaccharides. In: Paech K, Tracy MV (eds) Modern methods of plant analysis, vol II. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 145–196
Zaho M, Zhang H, Yan H, Qui L, Baskin CC (2018) Mobilization and role of starch, protein and fat reserves during seed germination of six wild grassland species. Front Plant Sci 9:1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00234
Ziegler P (1995) Carbohydrate degradation during germination. In: Kigel J, Galili G (eds) Seed development and germination. Marcel Dekker Inc, New York, pp 447–474
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
None.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Saluja, S., Sawhney, S. Major nutrient reserves in seeds of Cicer arietinum, patterns of their depletions from the cotyledons and coincidental gains in biomass of growing seedling in response to selective organectomy. Vegetos 37, 60–67 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-022-00563-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-022-00563-4