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Properties of the soybean seed coat cuticle change during development

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Abstract

Whether a seed coat of a soybean (Glycine max L. Mer.) seed is permeable or non-permeable is governed by a number of quantitative trait loci further influenced by environmental factors. In soybean seeds, water loss is controlled by a thin, inconspicuous outer cuticle. When intact, the outer cuticle constitutes a barrier to water passage; however, the presence of minute cracks in the cuticle results in the ready passage of water. We explored the timing of cuticular development in soybean seeds by measuring the deposition of the cutin in relation to seed growth and cell viability. Cutin deposition occurred early in the development and ceased just prior to the final stage of rapid seed expansion. Cracks in the cuticle appeared after cutin synthesis ceased while the seed continued to grow. In permeable seeds (regardless of genotype) the resistance of the cuticle to water passage increased steadily during development until seed expansion was maximal and cracks appeared in the cuticle. Once cracks formed, they became the primary site of water passage and the cuticle lost its ability to control the process. In non-permeable seeds, no cracks appeared at this critical point and the cuticle continued to restrict water passage. Microarray analysis of gene expression during seed coat development revealed a complex transcriptome with many genes uniquely expressed in the seed coat. However, the expression patterns were remarkably similar between permeable and non-permeable types, in keeping with the complexity of the underlying genetics of seed coat permeability.

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Abbreviations

BSTFA:

N,O-bis-(trimethyl silyl) trifluoroacetamide

dpa:

Days post anthesis

GC–FID:

Gas chromatography–flame ionization detector

GC–MS:

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

PTS:

Trisodium, 3-hydroxy-5,8,10-pyrene trisulfonate

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Mr. Vaino Poysa (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) for soybean seed, Dr. Lila Vodkin (University of Illinois) for soybean microarray slides, and Mr. David Carter (London Regional Genomics Centre) and Ms. Pat Moy (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) for assistance with microarray hybridizations. We also thank Dr. Mike Dixon (University of Guelph) for the loan of a thermocouple psychrometer, Ms. Aldona Gaidauskas-Scott and Ms. Elizabeth Bernath for technical assistance, and Mr. Jake Borys for field assistance to KR. The research was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Strategic Grant awarded to C.A.P, M.R.G. and M.A.B.

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Author notes

  1. Kosala Ranathunge

    Present address: Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, Kirschallee 1, 52115, Bonn, Germany

  2. Suqin Shao

    Present address: Guelph Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Guelph, ON, N1G 5CP, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Kosala Ranathunge & Carol A. Peterson

  2. Environmental Stress Biology Group, Department of Biology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada

    Suqin Shao & Mark A. Bernards

  3. Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre (London), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, N5V 4T3, Canada

    Dinah Qutob & Mark Gijzen

Authors
  1. Kosala Ranathunge
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Correspondence to Mark A. Bernards.

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Ranathunge, K., Shao, S., Qutob, D. et al. Properties of the soybean seed coat cuticle change during development. Planta 231, 1171–1188 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-010-1118-9

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