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Sugars act as signal molecules and osmotica to regulate the expression of α-amylase genes and metabolic activities in germinating cereal grains

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Abstract

The molecular mechanisms that initiate and control the metabolic activities of seed germination are largely unknown. Sugars may play important roles in regulating such metabolic activities in addition to providing an essential carbon source for the growth of young seedlings and maintaining turgor pressure for the expansion of tissues during germination. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the physiological role of sugars in the regulation of α-amylase gene expression and carbohydrate metabolism in embryo and endosperm of germinating rice seeds. RNA gel blot analysis revealed that in the embryo and aleurone cells, expression of four α-amylase genes was differentially regulated by sugars via mechanisms beyond the well-known hormonal control mechanism. In the aleurone cells, expression of these α-amylase genes was regulated by gibberellins produced in the embryo and by osmotically active sugars. In the embryo, expression of two α-amylase genes and production of gibberellins were transient, and were probably induced by depletion of sugars in the embryo upon imbibition, and suppressed by sugars influx from the endosperm as germination proceeded. The differential expression of the four α-amylase genes in the embryo and aleurone cells was probably due to their markedly different sensitivities to changes in tissue sugar levels. Our study supports a model in which sugars regulate the expression of α-amylase genes in a tissue-specific manner: via a feedback control mechanism in the embryo and via an osmotic control mechanism in the aleurone cells. An interactive loop among sugars, gibberellins, and α-amylase genes in the germinating cereal grain is proposed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, 11529, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

    Su-May Yu, Yi-Ching Lee, Su-Chiung Fang, Ming-Tsair Chan & Soon-Far Hwa

  2. Department of Agronomy, National Taiwan University, 10764, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

    Yi-Ching Lee & Li-Fei Liu

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  1. Su-May Yu
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Yu, SM., Lee, YC., Fang, SC. et al. Sugars act as signal molecules and osmotica to regulate the expression of α-amylase genes and metabolic activities in germinating cereal grains. Plant Mol Biol 30, 1277–1289 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019558

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019558

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