JXB Advance Access originally published online on February 10, 2006
Journal of Experimental Botany 2006 57(4):923-929; doi:10.1093/jxb/erj077
RESEARCH PAPER |
Immunolocalization of FsPK1 correlates this abscisic acid-induced protein kinase with germination arrest in Fagus sylvatica L. seeds
1Departamento de Fisiología Vegetal, Centro Hispano-Luso de Investigaciones Agrarias, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Salamanca, Plaza de los Doctores de la Reina s/n, E-37007 Salamanca, Spain
2Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Unidad Asociada UMA-CSIC, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto Andaluz de Biotecnología, Universidad de Málaga, E-29071, Málaga, Spain
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mdr{at}usal.es
An enzymatically active recombinant protein kinase, previously isolated and characterized in Fagus sylvatica L. dormant seeds (FsPK1), was used to obtain a specific polyclonal antibody against this protein. Immunoblotting and immunohistochemical analysis of FsPK1 protein in beech seeds showed a strong immunostaining in the nucleus of the cells located in the vascular tissue of the embryonic axis corresponding to the future apical meristem of the root. This protein kinase was found to accumulate in the seeds only when embryo growth was arrested by application of ABA, while the protein amount decreased during stratification, previously proved to alleviate dormancy, and no protein was detected at all when seed germination was induced by addition of GA3. These results indicate that FsPK1 may be involved in the control of the embryo growth mediated by ABA and GAs during the transition from dormancy to germination in Fagus sylvatica seeds.
Key words: ABA, Fagus sylvatica, germination, immunoblotting, protein kinase, seed dormancy