Redox-mediated kick-start of mitochondrial energy metabolism drives resource-efficient seed germination.

ABSTRACT: Seeds preserve a far developed plant embryo in a quiescent state. Seed metabolism relies on stored resources and is reactivated to drive germination when the external conditions are favorable. Since the switchover from quiescence to reactivation provides a remarkable case of a cell physiological transition we investigated the earliest events in energy and redox metabolism of Arabidopsis seeds at imbibition. By developing fluorescent protein biosensing in intact seeds, we observed ATP accumulation and oxygen uptake within minutes, indicating rapid activation of mitochondrial respiration, which coincided with a sharp transition from an oxidizing to a more reducing thiol redox environment in the mitochondrial matrix. To identify individual operational protein thiol switches, we capture

SUBMITTER: Nietzel T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6955286 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature