Journal Article

The biochemistry underpinning industrial seed technology and mechanical processing of sugar beet

Hourston, James E., Fischer, Uwe, Meinhard, Juliane, Strnad, Miroslav, Steinbrecher, Tina, Turecková, Veronika, Leubner-Metzger, Gerhard, Ignatz, Michael

2019

Overview

Industrial processing to deliver high-quality commercial seed includes removing chemical inhibitors of germination, and is essential to produce fresh sprouts, achieve vigorous crop establishment, and high yield potential in the field. Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris var. altissima Doell.), the main sugar source of the temperate agricultural zone, routinely undergoes several processing steps during seed production to improve germination performance and seedling growth. Germination assays and seedling phenotyping was carried out on unprocessed, and processed (polished and washed) sugar beet fruits. Pericarp-derived solutes, known to inhibit germination, were tested in germination assays and their osmolality and conductivity assessed (ions). Abscisic acid (ABA) and ABA metabolites were quantified in both the true seed and pericarp tissue using UPLC-ESI(+)-MS/MS. Physical changes in the pericarp structures were assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We found that polishing and washing of the sugar beet fruits both had a positive effect on germination performance and seedling phenotype, and when combined, this positive effect was stronger. The mechanical action of polishing removed the outer pericarp (fruit coat) tissue (parenchyma), leaving the inner tissue (sclerenchyma) unaltered, as revealed by SEM. Polishing as well as washing removed germination inhibitors from the pericarp, specifically, ABA, ABA metabolites, and ions. Understanding the biochemistry underpinning the effectiveness of these processing treatments is key to driving further innovations in commercial seed quality.

• Publisher: Springer Science + Business Media,Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Abscisic acid / Abscisic Acid - metabolism / agricultural zoning / Agriculture / Beta vulgaris / Beta vulgaris - growth & development / Beta vulgaris - physiology / Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris / Biochemistry / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Chemical compounds / chemical inhibitors / Ecology / Forestry / Fruits / Germination / Inhibitors / Ions / Leaching / Life Sciences / Metabolites / Organic chemistry / Original / ORIGINAL ARTICLE / osmolality / Parenchyma / Pericarp / phenotype / Phenotypes / Phenotyping / plant establishment / plant growth inhibitors / Plant Growth Regulators - metabolism / Plant Sciences / Polishing / Scanning electron microscopy / sclerenchyma / seed quality / seedling growth / Seedlings / Seeds - growth & development / Seeds - physiology / Solutes / Sugar / sugar beet / sugars / Tandem Mass Spectrometry / true seeds / Washing