JXB Advance Access originally published online on August 23, 2005
Journal of Experimental Botany 2005 56(420):2705-2712; doi:10.1093/jxb/eri263
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RESEARCH PAPER |
Sugar metabolism in developing lupin seeds is affected by a short-term water deficit
1Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Apartado 127, 2781-901 Oeiras, Portugal
2Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
3Faculdade de Engenharia de Recursos Naturais, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +351 21 4433644. E-mail: ricardo{at}itqb.unl.pt
A short-term water deficit (WD) imposed during the pre-storage phase of lupin seed development [1522 d after anthesis (DAA)] accelerated seed maturation and led to smaller and lighter seeds. During seed development, neutral invertase (EC 3.2.1.26
Key words:
Galactinol synthase, invertase, Lupinus albus, rewatering, seed development, storage compounds, sucrose synthase, sugars, water deficit
60%) and an increase of the hexose:sucrose ratio. Rewatering restored sucrose synthase activity to control levels while neutral invertase activity remained depressed (3060%). A transient accumulation of starch observed in control seeds was abolished by WD. Despite the several metabolic changes the final seed composition was largely unaltered by WD except for
60% increase in stachyose and raffinose (raffinose family oligosaccharides). This increase in raffinose family oligosaccharides appears as the WD imprinting on mature seeds.