Involvement of Endogenous Plant Hormones in The Regulatory Network of Fatty Acid Biosynthesis in Soybean Seed

Description

The activities of phytohormones during the reproductive phase have been partially clarified in seed physiology while the biological role of plant hormones in oil accumulation during seed development has been investigated in part only. In this research, fatty acid (FA) contents and hormone profiles, including abscisic acid (ABA) and cytokinins (CKs) of seed samples in four different stages and comparing six soybean varieties have been investigated in order to examine the hypothesis that the endogenous plant hormones play important roles in FA production in soybean seeds. The FA contents increased significantly during this period while the hormone concentrations gradually declined towards the seed physical maturation. However, the interactions between FA contents and hormone profiles were complex and went beyond linear correlations. Hormone metabolism in the earlier stages of seed maturation period demonstrated numerous robust relationships with FA accumulations, as derived from several simple and multiple regression models in the determination of different FA contents. Evaluation of the effects of exogenous ABA and trans-Zeatin (tZ) on FA biosynthesis has revealed that ABA appears to be involved in the accumulations of unsaturated FAs while tZ participated in the synthesis of saturated and unsaturated FAs. Notably, the alterations of FA synthesis differ according to what exogenous hormone concentrations could be used.
Author Keywords: Abscisic acid, Cytokinin, Fatty acid, Seed development, Soybean