The Seed Biology Place

The Plant Cell 21: 3803-3822 (2009)

**Ethylene interacts with abscisic acid to regulate endosperm rupture during germination: a comparative approach using Lepidium sativum and Arabidopsis thaliana ^[W][OA]**

Ada Linkies, Kerstin Müller, Karl Morris, Veronika Turecková, Meike Wenk, Cassandra S. C. Cadman, Françoise Corbineau, Miroslav Strnad, James R. Lynn, William E. Finch-Savage, Gerhard Leubner-Metzger

University of Freiburg, Faculty of Biology, Institute for Biology II, Botany / Plant Physiology, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany, Web: 'The Seed Biology Place' http://www.seedbiology.de (A.L., Ke.M., M.W., G.L.-M.)
Warwick Horticulture Research International (HRI), Warwick University, Wellesbourne, Warwick CV35 9EF, United Kingdom (Ka.M., C.S.C.C., J.R.L., W.E.F.-S.)
Palacky University and Institute of Experimental Botany Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Laboratory of Growth Regulators, CZ-78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic (V.T., M.S.)
Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Germination et Dormance des Semences, UR5, Site d'Ivry, F-75005 Paris, France (F.C.)

Received July 23, 2009; Returned for revision October 12, 2009; Accepted November 17, 2009; Published December 18, 2009
www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.109.070201

Figure 1. Time course of endosperm cap weakening and endosperm rupture of Lepidium sativum FR1 and the effect of abscisic acid (ABA).

(A) Endosperm cap weakening and rupture of seeds incubated without (CON) or with 10 µM ABA added to the medium in continuous light at 18°C. Endosperm cap weakening was determined by measuring tissue resistance by the puncture force method at the times indicated. The time points (after the start of imbibition) at which tissues were dissected for the microarrays are indicated in gray. All seeds selected for the puncture force measurements and for the microarrays had completed testa rupture but intact endosperm caps. ABA did not affect testa rupture.

(B) The CON and ABA seed populations showed a very similar relationship between decreasing endosperm cap puncture force and increasing percentage of seeds showing endosperm rupture. Mean values ± SE of 3 x 50 seeds for the endosperm rupture [%] and at least 50 endosperm caps for the puncture force [mN] measurements are presented.

Synopsis: Tissue weakening of the endosperm is required to allow radicle protrusion during seed germination. Cross-species work including tissue-specific transcriptome analysis and biomechanical measurement of endosperm weakening provided a new mechanistic model that explains how ethylene promotes seed germination and counteracts the inhibition of endosperm cap weakening by abscisic acid.

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Abstract of Plant Cell 2009

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The Plant Cell 21: 3803-3822 (2009)

Ethylene interacts with abscisic acid to regulate endosperm rupture during germination: a comparative approach using Lepidium sativum and Arabidopsis thaliana [W][OA]

**Ethylene interacts with abscisic acid to regulate endosperm rupture during germination: a comparative approach using Lepidium sativum and Arabidopsis thaliana ^[W][OA]**