Domestication has altered the ABA and gibberellin profiles in developing pea seeds

Abstract

Main conclusion We showed that wild pea seeds contained a more diverse combination of bioactive GAs and had higher ABA content than domesticated peas. Abstract Although the role of abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GAs) interplay has been extensively studied in Arabidopsis and cereals models, comparatively little is known about the effect of domestication on the level of phytohormones in legume seeds. In legumes, as in other crops, seed dormancy has been largely or entirely removed during domestication. In this study, we have measured the endogenous levels of ABA and GAs comparatively between wild and domesticated pea seeds during their development. We have shown that wild seeds contained more ABA than domesticated ones, which could be important for preparing the seeds for the period of dormancy. ABA was catabolised particularly by an 8´-hydroxylation pathway, and dihydrophaseic acid was the main catabolite in seed coats as well as embryos. Besides, the seed coats of wild and pigmented cultivated genotypes were characterised by a broader spectrum of bioactive GAs compared to non-pigmented domesticated seeds. GAs in both seed coat and embryo were synthesized mainly by a 13-hydroxylation pathway, with GA29 being the most abundant in the seed coat and GA20 in the embryos. Measuring seed water content and water loss indicated domesticated pea seeds´ desiccation was slower than that of wild pea seeds. Altogether, we showed that pea domestication led to a change in bioactive GA composition and a lower ABA content during seed development.

Domestication has altered gene expression and secondary metabolites in pea seed coat

“…This work presents the first comprehensive gene expression, proteomic, and metabolomic profiling of pea seed coat development in relation to seed dormancy and domestication. It complements previous studies of gene expression, anatomy, and metabolite profiles of seed coats between wild and cultivated peas (Balarynová et al., 2022, 2023; Hradilová et al., 2017; Janská et al., 2019; Zablatzká et al., 2021) (Figure 7). Although seed development involves the coordination of molecular, cellular, and biochemical processes among the embryo, endosperm, and seed coat, this study focused on the seed coat, as its permeability changed during domestication is important for dormancy in many species (Smýkal et al., 2014).…”

“…Although seed development involves the coordination of molecular, cellular, and biochemical processes among the embryo, endosperm, and seed coat, this study focused on the seed coat, as its permeability changed during domestication is important for dormancy in many species (Smýkal et al., 2014). Relatively advanced stages of seed development, from 13 DAP to the mature dry stage, were analyzed to capture changes related to differences in seed coat properties when dormancy is established (Balarynová et al., 2023; Janská et al., 2019; Smýkal et al., 2014). Moreover, this study compared wild and domesticated genotypes, in contrast to typical single‐genotype studies of cultivated crop.…”

“…The Plant Journal, (2024), 118, 2269-2295 opportunity to explore another dimension of domestication (Bellucci et al, 2014;Lu et al, 2016;Swanson-Wagner et al, 2012) as shown on soybean seed (Du et al, 2017;Gao et al, 2018;Lu et al, 2016), wheat glume (Zou et al, 2015), and our work on pea seed and pod development (Balarynov a et al, 2022(Balarynov a et al, , 2023Hradilov a et al, 2017). There is evidence that spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression played an important role in the domestication process (Doebley et al, 2006;Du et al, 2017;Lu et al, 2016).…”

“…Advances in genomics provide an opportunity to assess the effect of domestication at the genome level by the comparison of progenitors and respective crops. In addition, the application of transcriptomics along with associated proteome and metabolome analysis provides the opportunity to explore another dimension of domestication (Bellucci et al., 2014; Lu et al., 2016; Swanson‐Wagner et al., 2012) as shown on soybean seed (Du et al., 2017; Gao et al., 2018; Lu et al., 2016), wheat glume (Zou et al., 2015), and our work on pea seed and pod development (Balarynová et al., 2022, 2023; Hradilová et al., 2017). There is evidence that spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression played an important role in the domestication process (Doebley et al., 2006; Du et al., 2017; Lu et al., 2016).…”

“…Although the morphology of seeds varies among different plant families and is used taxonomically, the fundamental components of the E (cotyledons, hypocotyl, and radicle) are highly conserved. Much of the information about the genetic regulation of seed development has been gained from the study of Arabidopsis mutants (Bradford & Nonogaki, 2009) and related Brassicas (Gao et al., 2022; MacGregor et al., 2015), tomato (Bizouerne et al., 2021), Medicago truncatula (Buitink et al., 2006; Fu et al., 2017; Gallardo et al., 2007; Verdier, Dessaint, et al., 2013; Verdier, Lalanne, et al., 2013), and other economically important legumes such as lentil (Yu et al., 2023), chickpea (Garg et al., 2017), and soybean (Gao et al., 2018) and pea (Balarynová et al., 2022, 2023; Cechová et al., 2017; Hradilová et al., 2017; Janská et al., 2019; Krejčí et al., 2022; Zablatzká et al., 2021). The development of SC is important for the establishment of viable seeds; perturbation results in a decrease in seed viability and germination, essential for species survival in nature as well as in crop establishment.…”