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AOBPreview originally published online on July 9, 2008
Annals of Botany 2008 102(3):425-433; doi:10.1093/aob/mcn112
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

ABA Inhibits Embryo Cell Expansion and Early Cell Division Events During Coffee (Coffea arabica ‘Rubi’) Seed Germination

E. A. Amaral Da Silva1, Peter E. Toorop2, André A. M. Van Lammeren3 and Henk W. M. Hilhorst4,*

1 Departamento de Ciências Florestais, CP 3037, Universidade Federal de Lavras, 37·200-000, Lavras, MG, Brazil
2 Seed Conservation Department, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH17 6TN, UK
3 Laboratory of Cell Biology
4 Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University, Arboretumlaan 4, 6703 BD Wageningen, The Netherlands

* For correspondence. E-mail henk.hilhorst{at}wur.nl

Received: 1 April 2008    Returned for revision: 22 May 2008    Accepted: 9 June 2008    Published electronically: 9 July 2008

Background and Aims: Coffee seed germination represents an interplay between the embryo and the surrounding endosperm. A sequence of events in both parts of the seed determines whether germination will be successful or not. Following previous studies, the aim here was to further characterize the morphology of endosperm degradation and embryo growth with respect to morphology and cell cycle, and the influence of abscisic acid on these processes.

Methods: Growth of cells in a fixed region of the axis was quantified from light micrographs. Cell cycle events were measured by flow cytometry and by immunocytochemistry, using antibodies against β-tubulin. Aspects of the endosperm were visualized by light and scanning electron microscopy.

Key Results: The embryonic axis cells grew initially by isodiametric expansion. This event coincided with reorientation and increase in abundance of microtubules and with accumulation of β-tubulin. Radicle protrusion was characterized by a shift from isodiametric expansion to elongation of radicle cells and further accumulation of β-tubulin. Early cell division events started prior to radicle protrusion. Abscisic acid decreased the abundance of microtubules and inhibited the growth of the embryo cells, the reorganization of the microtubules, DNA replication in the embryonic axis, the formation of a protuberance and the completion of germination. The endosperm cap cells had smaller and thinner cell walls than the rest of the endosperm. Cells in the endosperm cap displayed compression followed by loss of cell integrity and the appearance of a protuberance prior to radicle protrusion.

Conclusions: Coffee seed germination is the result of isodiametric growth of the embryo followed by elongation, at the expense of integrity of endosperm cap cells. The cell cycle, including cell division, is initiated prior to radicle protrusion. ABA inhibits expansion of the embryo, and hence subsequent events, including germination.

Key words: Abscisic acid, β-tubulin, Coffea arabica, coffee seed, cell morphology, germination, microtubules


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