干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Maize (Zea mays) is one of the most important crops and widely planted in the world. In the arid and semi-arid maize production regions, hydropriming is a simple technique to improve seed germination and seedling establishment. However, the mechanism underlying hydropriming is largely unclear at the molecular level. This study aimed to analyze the priming-induced changes in maize embryo proteome and to identify priming-associated proteins. Mature maize seeds of Zhengdan 958, the most sown cultivar in China currently, were used for hydropriming. Hydropriming was performed by soaking seeds in water for 12 h (25 degrees C) and air-drying them to original moisture contents. Primed and unprimed seeds were subjected to germination test and comparative proteomic analysis. The results showed that hydropriming significantly improved seed germination and overwhelming embryo proteins were unchanged in abundance after priming. At least 8 protein spots changed greatly, of which 5 increased and 3 decreased in the primed seeds. These proteins were identified as peroxiredoxin-5, 1-Cys peroxiredoxin, embryonic protein DC-8, cupin, globulin-1 and late embryogenesis abundant protein. DC-8 and globulin-1 may be used for the molecular markers of priming effect and seed vigor. Our results would contribute to the understanding of hydropriming mechanism at the proteome level.