Abstract
Efforts are underway to domesticate the winter annual oilseed cover crop, pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.), to aid in overcoming global food security and ecosystem challenges. Several key alleles for domestication have already been introgressed; however, the weedy trait of seed dormancy remains. To make pennycress attractive for growers, any traits that could contribute to weed pressure on their fields must be removed. In this study, we have performed multi-faceted experiments to understand and dissect challenges associated with seed dormancy and germination in wild pennycress. Lines were derived by chemical mutagenesis to provide a possible genetic solution. Laboratory and field-based experiments were performed to understand the role of light, seed priming, and gibberellic acid in the wild-type pennycress. These experiments were followed by incorporation of a genotype with a mutation in the TRANSPARENT TESTA 2 gene that could potentially overcome problem of seed dormancy in wild-type pennycress. Subsequent laboratory and field-based comparison of the wild-type and tt2 mutant over three seasons suggested that the tt2 line can germinate at a faster rate than wild-type and is comparable to the germination of wild-type treated with gibberellic acid. These experiments validated the hypothesis of using transparent testa mutants to solve seed dormancy and germination challenges. Further characterization of the transparent testa mutant indicated that this genotype can be susceptible to abiotic stress conditions such as NaCl, polyethylene glycol, coarse growth medium (sand), and abscisic acid. Future work is required to understand the issues related to the abiotic stress response in these lines.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 114216 |
| Journal | Industrial Crops and Products |
| Volume | 174 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 15 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to thank Doug Brinkman, who prepared the LED lighting equipment for use and measured the LED spectra. They also extend thanks to Professor Alan George Taylor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Cornell University for providing tips and reagents for seed viability and seed coat permeability testing. This work was supported by the resources and staff (Grant Barthel, Alexander Cramer, and Mark Sanders) at the University of Minnesota University Imaging Centers (UIC) SCR_020997. They would also like to thank the funding agencies that made this research possible, including the University of Minnesota/Bayer Crop Science Multifunctional Agriculture Initiative, the Forever Green Initiative (www.forevergreen.umn.edu), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, award number 2018-67009-27374, and the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant No. 2019-69012-29851.
Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Doug Brinkman, who prepared the LED lighting equipment for use and measured the LED spectra. They also extend thanks to Professor Alan George Taylor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Cornell University for providing tips and reagents for seed viability and seed coat permeability testing. This work was supported by the resources and staff (Grant Barthel, Alexander Cramer, and Mark Sanders) at the University of Minnesota University Imaging Centers (UIC) SCR_020997 . They would also like to thank the funding agencies that made this research possible, including the University of Minnesota/Bayer Crop Science Multifunctional Agriculture Initiative , the Forever Green Initiative ( www.forevergreen.umn.edu ), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture , award number 2018-67009-27374 , and the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant No. 2019-69012-29851 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
Keywords
- Domestication
- Dormancy
- Germination
- Mutant
- Pennycress
- Transparent testa
