Hydropriming Applied on Fast Germinating Solanum villosum Miller Seeds: Impact on Pre-germinative Metabolism

Abstract

Seed priming can circumvent poor germination rate and uniformity, frequently reported in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and its crop wild relatives (CWRs). However, there is still a gap of knowledge on how these treatments impact the pre-germinative metabolism in a genotype- and/or species-dependent manner. The CWR Solanum villosum Miller (hairy nightshade) investigated in this study showed a quite unique profile of fast germination. Although this accelerated germination profile would not apparently require further improvement, we wanted to test whether priming would still be able to impact the pre-germinative metabolism, eventually disclosing the predominant contribution of specific antioxidant components. Hydropriming followed by dry-back resulted in synchronized germination, as revealed by the lowest MGR (Mean Germination Rate) and U (Uncertainty) values, compared to unprimed seeds. No significant changes in ROS (reactive oxygen species) were observed throughout the treatment. Increased tocopherols levels were detected at 2 h of hydropriming whereas, overall, a low lipid peroxidation was evidenced by the malondialdehyde (MDA) assay. Hydropriming resulted in enhanced accumulation of the naturally occurring antioxidant phenolic compounds chlorogenic acid and iso-orientin, found in the dry seeds and ex novo accumulation of rutin. The dynamic changes of the pre-germinative metabolism induced by hydropriming are discussed in view of future applications that might boost the use of eggplant CWRs for breeding, upon upgrade mediated by seed technology.

Effects of Melatonin Priming on Suaeda corniculata Seed Germination, Antioxidant Defense, and Reserve Mobilization: Implications for Salinized Wetland Restoration

“…Priming treatment, a key technique to alleviate the effects of abiotic stress on seed germination, had been attempted recently in wetland restoration engineering . It boosts the antioxidant and DNA repair systems, and also modulates the reserve mobilization for improving seed germination (Yan et al, 2020;Forti et al, 2021). Our results support the notion of effectively applying the priming treatment to wetland plant seed germination, and thus confirm the previously proposed hypothesis that melatonin priming had a concentration-dependent effect on S. corniculata seed germination during salinization stress.…”

“…Priming is a pretreatment technology which hydrates the seed in specific solutions for initiating specific metabolic processes before germination (Masondo et al, 2018). It is proven to be an effective and safe strategy for addressing the current and future issues of seed germination under abiotic stress conditions (Forti et al, 2021). The priming treatment enhances the inherent tolerance potential of seeds through many mediums, which, based on hormone, have been widely applied in the pretreatment of commercial seeds (Li et al, 2020;.…”

Provenance variation in seed storability of jabon (Neolamarckia cadamba) and their response to seed invigoration by priming and gamma irradiation treatments

“…The hydropriming for 48 hours was also effective in increasing the seed germination of Momordica charantia (Adhikari et al 2021). The positive effect of hydropriming on seed germination was also reported in Vicia faba (Damalas et al 2019), Carum carvi (Mirmazloum et al 2020), and Solanum melongena (Forti et al 2021). Seed storage in the long term can cause the seed coat to become drier and the seed moisture content to be lower (Table 2).…”

Molecular dynamics of seed priming at the crossroads between basic and applied research

“…3 ). The impact of different seed priming techniques has been evaluated in terms of antioxidant response in cereals (Hameed et al 2019 ; Cao et al 2019 ; Sen and Puthur 2020 ; Khan et al 2020a ; Shah et al 2021 ; Guo et al 2022 ), legumes (Kesharvarz et al 2017 ; Lilya et al 2019 ; Forti et al 2020b ; Chen et al 2021 ; Pagano et al 2022a , 2022b ), Solanaceae (Anand et al 2019 ; Ali et al 2019 ; Bali et al 2020 ; Forti et al 2020a , 2021 ), and tree species (Zhai et al 2022 ). The beneficial effects of seed priming can extend beyond germination and seedling development since these treatments contribute to enhancing the antioxidant defense in field-grown plants (Fig.…”

“…Upregulation of several BER genes, e.g., OGG1 (8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase), FPG1 (formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase), and TDP1 (tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase) associated with metabolic resumption has been reported in imbibed seeds of Medicago truncatula (Pagano et al 2017 , 2019 , 2022a ; Forti et al 2020b ), Arabidopsis (Chen et al 2012a ; Cordoba-Canero et al 2014 ), and eggplant (Forti et al 2020a ; Kiran et al 2020 ). To date, reports that investigate the use of the expression profiles of DNA repair genes, e.g., BER genes, as early indicators of the seed response to priming have highlighted both genotype- and seed lot-dependent variability (Forti et al 2020a , 2021 ).…”