Clues on an intraspecific communication system in seed‐seedling transition

Abstract

How much interactivity is in a seed-seedling transition system? We hypothesize that seed-seed, seed-seedling, and seedling-seedling interactions can drive the early plant development in artificial growth systems directly due to mutual stimulation phenomena. To test the hypothesis, we performed seed germination measurements, gene expression in germination sensu stricto, water dynamics in germinating seeds, and information theory. For a biological model, we used Solanum lycocarpum A. St.-Hil. seeds. This is a neotropical species with high intraspecific variability in the seed sample. Our findings demonstrate that the dynamic and transient seed-seedling transition system is influenced by the number of individuals (seed or seedling) in the artificial system. In addition, we also discuss that: (1) the information entropy enables the quantification of system disturbance relative to individuals at the same physiological stage (seed-seed or seedling-seedling), which may be determinant for embryo growth during germination and (2) the intraspecific communication in seed-seedling transition systems formed by germinating seeds has the potential to alter the expression pattern of key genes for embryo development. Therefore, the phenomenon of mutual stimulation during the germination process can be an important aspect of seed-seedling transition, especially in laboratory conditions.

Understanding In Vitro Embryo Development through Classical Germination Measurements: A Case Study of Dragon’s Blood (Croton lechleri Müll Arg.)

“…As there is a possible effect of mutual stimulation related to embryonic development processes in native species [16,35], we chose to study the robustness of development measurements through the effect of sample-size fluctuation with different numbers of test tubes to simulate the sample sizes under study. This experimental design followed that recommended by [16], in which the experimental units are randomized according to the precepts of the casualization assumption [36], but the number of individuals per experimental unit fluctuates according to the sample size factor.…”