Seminar IJPB /SPS Dr Petr Smýkal and Dr Jana Balarynová

The mature seed of legumes consists of an embryo and a seed coat. While the embryo has been extensively studied, comparatively little is known about the seed coat. To address this gap, we analyzed gene expression during seed development in cultivated and wild genotypes of pea, lentil, and chickpea. Gene co-expression analysis identified key modules associated with seed development, dormancy, and domestication. Wild legumes exhibited higher levels of cell wall-bound metabolites and protective compounds in their seed coats. Our findings demonstrate that domestication has altered legume seed development, primarily reducing transcript abundance, as well as the protein and metabolite composition of the seed coat—particularly compounds involved in defense. Genetic mapping, transcriptome, and metabolic profiling revealed that genes of the phenylpropanoid pathway were significantly enriched and upregulated in wild progenitors. We show that the non-functional polyphenol oxidase (PPO) gene was selected during pea domestication, influencing oxidation and phenolic polymerization in the seed coat. The new data on PPO will be presented concerning still enigmatic plant melanin. These findings provide valuable resources for studying secondary metabolism and offer strategies to enhance legume seed quality, which is crucial for improving the human protein diet.

Petr Smýkal & Jana Balarynová, Department of Botany, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic

Invitation: Massimiliano Corso, "Seed - Development, Regulation, and Metabolism"  SEED-DREAM team


In connection with the research developed at the Institute Jean-Pierre Bourgin for Plant Sciences.