In recent years, technological innovations have allowed significant advances in the diagnosis of seed quality. Seeds with superior physiological quality are those with the highest level of physiological maturity and the integration of rapid and precise methods to separate them contributes to better performance in the field. Autofluorescence-spectral imaging is an innovative technique based on fluorescence signals from fluorophores present in seed tissues, which have biological implications for seed quality. Thus, through this technique, it would be possible to classify seeds in different maturation stages. To test this, we produced plants of a commercial cultivar (MG/BR 46 “Conquista”) and collected the seeds at five reproductive (R) stages: R7.1 (beginning of maturity), R7.2 (mass maturity), R7.3 (seed disconnected from the mother plant), R8 (harvest point), and R9 (final maturity). Autofluorescence signals were extracted from images captured at different excitation/emission combinations. In parallel, we investigated physical parameters, germination, vigor and the dynamics of pigments in seeds from different maturation stages. To verify the accuracy in predicting the seed maturation stages based on autofluorescence-spectral imaging, we created machine learning models based on three algorithms: (i) random forest, (ii) neural network, and (iii) support vector machine. Here, we reported the unprecedented use of the autofluorescence-spectral technique to classify the maturation stages of soybean seeds, especially using the excitation/emission combination of chlorophyll a (660/700 nm) and b (405/600 nm). Taken together, the machine learning algorithms showed high performance segmenting the different stages of seed maturation. In summary, our results demonstrated that the maturation stages of soybean seeds have their autofluorescence-spectral identity in the wavelengths of chlorophylls, which allows the use of this technique as a marker of seed maturity and superior physiological quality.

Seed priming is widely used in commercial seeds and its main function is to accelerate and synchronize seed germination. Undesirably, primed seeds show reduced longevity and treatments like heat shock have been shown to improve longevity in primed seeds. Nonetheless, the effect of heat shock treatment on primed seeds at the mRNA level is not known. Thus, the aim of this work was to investigate the effect of heat shock treatment on the longevity of primed tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) seeds at the physiological and transcriptome levels. Tomato seeds were primed and dried (control). Alternatively, primed seeds were subjected to heat shock treatment (38 °C/32 % relative humidity) before drying. Germination, vigor and longevity were evaluated. Transcriptome analysis was performed by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) from biological samples collected immediately after priming and another samples collected from primed seeds followed by the heat shock treatments. The gene expression was validated by quantitative real time PCR (RT-qPCR). We showed that applying heat shock treatment after priming increased germination speed, enhanced seed longevity and preserved the vigor during storage of primed tomato seeds. Through transcriptome analysis, 368 differentially expressed genes were identified, from which 298 genes were up-regulated and 70 were down-regulated. We showed the increase of mRNA levels of HEAT SHOCK FACTOR-like and HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN-like chaperone genes, suggesting the involvement of the proteins coded by these transcripts in the enhancement of longevity in primed tomato seeds. The heat shock treatment after priming enhances and preserves the vigor of tomato primed seeds during storage. In addition, improves seed longevity through the increase in the expression of transcripts related to protection by response to stress.

The rapid and uniform establishment of crop plants in the field underpins food security through uniform mechanical crop harvesting. In order to achieve this, seeds with greater vigor should be used. Vigor is a component of physiological quality related to seed resilience. Despite this importance, there is little knowledge of the association between events at the molecular level and seed vigor. In this study, we investigated the relationship between gene expression during germination and seed vigor in soybean. The expression level of twenty genes related to growth at the beginning of the germination process was correlated with vigor. In this paper, vigor was evaluated by different tests. Then we reported the identification of the genes Expansin-like A1, Xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase 22, 65-kDa microtubule-associated protein, Xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase 2, N-glycosylase/DNA lyase OGG1 and Cellulose synthase A catalytic subunit 2, which are expressed during germination, that correlated with several vigor tests commonly used in routine analysis of soybean seed quality. The identification of these transcripts provides tools to study vigor in soybean seeds at the molecular level.

Priming and stress under high humidity and temperature on the physiological quality of Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG-5 seeds

It has been shown that the joint application of phosphorus (P) and ammonium (N-NH⁺₄) increases maize root proliferation and P acquisition by maize in alkaline soils, but this has not been shown in acidic soils for legumes. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to assess the effect of the joint application of P and NH₄⁺ on soybean root growth and P acquisition. Soybean was grown in glass-walled pots without P, with monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and triple super phosphate (TSP) applied on the soil surface or localized. The soil P increased irrespective of the P source and localization. The rhizosphere pH was decreased by MAP, while the soil bulk pH was not affected. The TSP increased the root length by 55% and MAP by 76% over the control, and the number of root tips increased by 21% with TSP, 58% with MAP applied on the soil surface, and 78% with MAP localized. The soybean dry matter, N and P uptake, and P use efficiency were increased by P fertilization, mainly with MAP localized. The joint application of P and ammonium decreases the soybean rhizosphere pH, which results in root proliferation early in the cycle, and eventually in higher P uptake and use efficiency.

ResumoA pimenta é um fruto do gênero Capsicum, bastante utilizada na culinária como tempero. Objetivou-se com este trabalho verificar o efeito do condicionamento fisiológico em sementes de Capsicum frutescens, e sobre as mudas obtidas das sementes condicionadas. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 2x6, designado por: qualidade fisiológica das sementes (vigor acima e abaixo) e cinco agentes no condicionamento fisiológico (água, nitrato de potássio a 0,2%, nitrato de cálcio a 0,2%, giberelina GA3 a 200 ppm e antioxidante riboflavina a 25 ppm), e testemunha, com quatro repetições. Para obtenção das sementes com vigor abaixo foi realizado a deterioração a 42 °C por 24 horas. O método de condicionamento fisiológico empregado foi à hidratação entre papéis, pelo período de 20 horas à 25 ºC. Foram avaliados a germinação, o vigor das sementes e a qualidade de mudas. Sementes com vigor acima apresentam melhor expressão do potencial fisiológico em relação às de vigor abaixo. O condicionamento fisiológico propiciou maior velocidade de emergência. Sementes condicionadas produziram mudas com maior fitomassa seca.