Herbal
Seyedeh Fatemeh Fallah; Farshid Ghaderi-Far; Masoud Golalipour; Hamidreza Sadeghi poor
Abstract
Introduction: Long-term storage of seeds under unfavorable conditions leads to their deterioration associated with decreased germination. Several studies have shown increased lipolysis in deteriorating seeds, but little is known about the role of protease activity during deterioration. In the present ...
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Introduction: Long-term storage of seeds under unfavorable conditions leads to their deterioration associated with decreased germination. Several studies have shown increased lipolysis in deteriorating seeds, but little is known about the role of protease activity during deterioration. In the present study, the effect of the controlled deterioration (CD) on the mobilization of storage proteins and the effects of pretreatment with protease inhibitor (PMSF) on the germination percentage of walnut kernels after CD were investigated. Materials and methods: Kernels were adjusted to 15% and 20% MC with water (control) or PMSF solution and then incubated for 3 and 6 days at 45°C for CD. Results: CD increased soluble proteins, solubility of 19-24 kDa glutelins, increased activity of a 80 kDa protease, accumulation of total amino acid, proline and increased protein carbonylation. Although aging-dependent decrease of germination was similar in both control and PMSF pretreatment, the aged kernels in PMSF pretreatment had lower proline, amino acid and carbonyl groups contents compared to the control. Discussion: These results suggest that CD causes increased solubility of protein reserves, but the inhibition of serine protease(s), unlike lipase, has no effect on improving the adverse physiological effects of CD including germination loss, and only at the biochemical level, it partially improved kernel response to stress. Identification of different metabolic pathways operating during CD of kernels can draw a picture of deterioration mechanism and also leads to introducing protocols for the quality and viability maintenance of kernels during storage.
