1. Introduction
Mitochondrial redox homeostasis is a key factor affecting seed viability. During the imbibition process of seeds with high viability, the number, inner membrane and cristae of mitochondria were significantly improved, and proteins and genes involved in energy and material metabolism, enzyme activity of TCA cycle, electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation were significantly improved [
1,
2]. However, in the process of imbibition, aging seeds inhibit the repair of mitochondrial structure and function, the total number of mitochondria, the outer membrane and inner membrane are difficult to distinguish and the integrity is low, the number of matrix and cristae is less than that of high viability seeds, and the shape is irregular. The proportion of mitochondria increased and the motility decreased, and the physiological functions such as electron transport chain, oxidative phosphorylation and marker enzymes were also lower than normal seeds, and mitochondrial cytochrome
c was released into the cytoplasm, inducing programmed cell death [
3,
4,
5].
With the decrease of seed viability, the activities of SOD, APX, MDHAR and GR of mitochondrial antioxidant system decreased significantly, and the total amount of ascorbic acid and glutathione decreased, and the ratio of reduced and oxidized forms also decreased significantly, resulting in the accumulation of ROS [
6,
7]. The accumulation of ROS will oxidize lysine, arginine, and proline in the protein side chain, resulting in protein carbonylation modification, inducing protein peptide chain breakage, and changing the oxidation site to carbonyl [
8]. Carbonylation leads to changes in protein structure and loss of function, which are easily degraded by hydrolases, leading to physiological and metabolic disorders of cells and tissues, aging or death [
9]. Previous studies revealed that when rice seed viability drops to a critical node (CN, 85% germination), ROS accumulate and attack lipids, and 4-HNE and other carbonyl small molecules accumulate, resulting in mitochondrial ATP synthase, malate dehydrogenase, and succinate dehydrogenase, etc. The protein undergoes carbonylation modification, which inhibits the ATP supply required for seed germination [
10,
11].
Mitochondrial redox homeostasis is closely related to the mitochondrial electron transport chain (mETC). Plant mETC mainly includes cytochrome pathway and alternate oxidase pathway. The cytochrome pathway is the main pathway of mitochondrial electron transfer, electrons are transferred from reduced substrates (NADH and succinate) to complex I or complex II, and then to ubiquinone, complex III, cytochrome c (Cyt c), complex IV, and finally transfer electrons to O
2 to generate H
2O, while protons are pumped from the mitochondrial matrix to the mitochondrial intermembrane space, forming proton kinetic potential on both sides of the inner membrane, driving the synthesis of ATP [
12,
13]. Under stress, the cytochrome pathway is inhibited, the oxidative capacity of NADH is reduced, the transfer of electrons to ubiquinone is inhibited, the proportion of oxidized ubiquinone is increased, and the transfer of electrons to O
2 is promoted to generate O
2-, resulting in oxidative damage; at the same time induces the alternative oxidase pathway, which facilitates electron transfer to alternative oxidase (AOX), and the pumping of protons from the mETC membrane arm to generate ATP [
14,
15,
16]. Kühn et al. [
17] to reveal the molecular mechanism by which the redox homeostasis of
aox1a mutants regulates the cytochrome pathway and the alternate oxidase pathway under stress in Arabidopsis.
Different plants contain different numbers of AOX genes. For example, the rice genome contains four AOX genes, OsAOX1a, OsAOX1c, OsAOX1d (previously named OsAOX1b), and OsAOX1e [
18]. AOX1a plays an important role in response to stress in Arabidopsis and rice. The previously reports revealed that the redox homeostasis of critical node of rice seed viability was significantly altered, inhibiting the cytochrome pathway, and the expression of
OsAOX1a was significantly up-regulated than that of unaged seeds, and the expression of the core subunit of the membrane arm of mETC complex I significantly up-regulated, improved electron and proton transfer ability, and maintained ATP generation [
5,
19].
Previous work confirmed that the cytochrome pathway, ROS accumulation, and mitochondrial protein carbonylation were inhibited during the critical node of rice seed viability, but AOX1a was induced to maintain mitochondrial redox homeostasis and enhance the function of ATP generation. The molecular mechanism of regulation is still unclear. This study will explore the regulatory mechanism of rice seed conservation longevity from the perspective of mitochondrial activity regulation using wild-type and OsAOX1a-RNAi rice seeds during ageing.
2. Results
2.1. Pattern of survival curves between WT and OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds after AA treatment
Comparing the OsAOX1a-RNAi and wild-type rice seeds harvested in the same, while OsAOX1a low expression seeds have longer grain length smaller (
Figure 1a) Compared seed width, length, and 100-grain weight with WT, the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds decreased by 1.9%, 2.2% and 8.2%, respectively (
Figure 1b–d). These results showed that the accumulation of dry matter in OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds decreased compared with WT seed.
The initial germination percentage of the WT and OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were 98.5% and 96.5%, respectively. Under artificially aging treatment with 40 °C and 75% relative humidity for 30 d, the survival curves showed an inverse S-shaped curve with plateau, CN and rapid decline, were significantly different (
Figure 2). Compared to WT seeds, OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds showed a similar plateau that the GP reached 90.0%, 80.0% and 70.0% after 6 d, 9 d and 12 d of AA treatment (
Figure 2a). However, the vigor index of OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds during AA treatment were always significantly lower than that of WT (
Figure 2b). Furthermore, after CN (12 days of aging), the germination rate of OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds began to decline rapidly comparing to WT seeds. A half-viability period (P50) was estimated to be 13.6 d and of 14.8 d for OsAOX1a-RNAi and WT seeds, respectively. These results indicated that the storability of OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were significant decrease compared to WT seeds.
2.2. Assessment of mitochondria status during AA treatments
To gain deeper insight into the mitochondria status between OsAOX1a-RNAi and WT seeds during AA treatments, crude mitochondria were extracted from seeds imbibed for 48 hours at 100%, 90%, 80%, and 70% germination, respectively. The mitochondrial electron transport capacity was evaluated by monitoring NADH and succinate-dependent O2 consumption (
Table 1). The respiratory rate of mitochondrial oxygen consumption decreased significantly with the decrease of seed viability in both materials. Compared to the WT seeds in the 100%, 90%, 80%, and 70% germination, the NADH-dependent O
2 consumption of the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were decrease by 62%, 61%, 70% and 53%, respectively; the succinate-dependent O
2 consumption were decrease by 21%, 28%, 54% and 19%, respectively. In addition to, the abundances of AOX1 and cyt c were further studied which played extremely important roles in mitochondrial electron transport (
Figure 3). Compared to the WT seeds, the abundances of AOX1 and cyt c in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were always lower than that in the WT during AA treatment. These results suggested that the capacity for electron transport were inhibited in the mitochondria of the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds after imbibition, indicating decrease in the ATP supply.
The mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activity and ATP content was further measured between OsAOX1a-RNAi and WT seeds in the 100%, 90%, 80% and 70% germination, respectively. The MDH activities and ATP contents decreased significantly with the decrease of seed viability in both materials (
Figure 4). Compared to the WT seeds in the 100%, 90%, 80%, and 70% germination, the MDH activities of the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were decrease by 14.4%, 14.3%, 13.18% and 24.8% respectively, while ATP contents were decrease by 47.2%, 60.5%, 53.8% and 51.8%, respectively. Therefore, above results indicated that mitochondrial status in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds after imbibition was weaken than the WT.
2.3. The abundance of complex I subunits during AA treatments
Mitochondrial electron transfer chain Complex I is upstream of the alternative oxidase pathway which were classified into five function sections: N module, Q module, P module, CA domain, GLDH domain. The abundances of Complex I subunits were investigated between OsAOX1a-RNAi and WT seeds in the 100%, 90%, 80% and 70% germination, respectively (
Figure 5).
The abundance of 75 kDa and 51 kDa subunit, the core subunits in the N module, in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were always lower than that in the WT during AA treatment. In addition to, the abundance of 75 kDa subunit in the WT seeds has no significantly changed during AA treatment, however, that in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds was gradually down-regulated. The abundance of 51 kDa subunit was down-regulated during AA treatment, however, that in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds was too low to be resolved, these results indicating that the capacity of electron transfer in OsAOX1a-RNAi was inhibited, especially in the CN of seed viability.
The abundance of Nad3, Nad4, Nad4L and Nad6 subunit, the core subunits in the P module, showed different patterns between OsAOX1a-RNAi and WT seeds during AA treatments. The abundance of Nad4 subunit were too low to be resolved in both materials. The abundance of Nad3 and Nad6 subunit in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were always higher than that in the WT during AA treatment, respectively. In addition to, the abundance of Nad3 has no significantly changed, while the abundance of Nad6 was gradually down-regulated in both materials during AA treatment. The abundance of Nad4L subunit in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were always lower than that in the WT during AA treatment. In addition to, the abundance of Nad4L subunit in the WT seeds was gradually down-regulated during AA treatment, however, that in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds has no significantly changed.
The abundance of 39 kDa and Nad7 subunit, the core subunits in the Q module, in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were always higher than that in the WT during AA treatment. The subunits of GLDH and γ-carbonic anhydrase (γ-CA) are non-conserved subunit of complex I. The abundances of GLDH subunit were gradually up-regulated in both materials during AA treatment. The abundance of γ-CA subunit in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds were always lower than that in the WT during AA treatment.
Figure 5.
Verification abundance of mitochondrial complex I subunits in crude mitochondria from the wild type and OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds with germination percentage of ~90, ~80, ~70% and the control group after 48 h imbibition by westernblotting.
Figure 5.
Verification abundance of mitochondrial complex I subunits in crude mitochondria from the wild type and OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds with germination percentage of ~90, ~80, ~70% and the control group after 48 h imbibition by westernblotting.
4. Materials and Methods
4.1. Materials and treatments
Rice seed (
Oryza sativa L.
japonica nipponbare) was used in all experiments. The homologous sequence of the OsAOX1a cDNA fragment was used for a double-stranded RNA interference (RNAi) trial. The construct AOX1a-RNAi was generated by the fragment and its inverted repeat fragment inserted downstream of the CaMV 35S promoter at the BamHI, SacI, Kpn I, and Spe I restriction sites of the modified pTCK303 vector. The primers were shown in
Table 2. Transgenic plants were generated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens (strain EHA105)-mediated transformation, which showed positive in real-time PCR testing by Hyg
R gene.
The seeds were sealed in aluminum foil bag at 40 °C for 7 days to break the dormancy. The seed germination percentage and vigor index were carried out at 28 °C for 7 d in the dark (ISTA, 1995). AA treatment was performed at 40 °C and 75% relative humidity for 21 days [
5]. The aging curve were characterized by seeds withdrawn from the treatment every 3 days for each genotype. And the time for seed germination to decrease to 50% (
P50) was calculated using Avrami equation with OriginPro software [
33].
4.2. Crude mitochondria purification
For mitochondrial purification, rice seeds were imbibition at 28 °C for 48 h in the dark. 1200 embryos were grinded in buffer, centrifuge at 2000× g for 5 min, take the supernatant, grind The buffer was resuspended and the pellet was centrifuged at 2000× g for 5 min. The supernatant was collected and centrifuged at 12000× g for 15 min. Discard the supernatant, wash with elution buffer to collect all the precipitates, centrifuge again at 2000× g for 5 min, take the supernatant, and centrifuge at 12000× g for 15 min to obtain crudely extracted mitochondria. Each step of the experiment was performed at 4 °C, and the purification mitochondria were stored at −80 °C.
4.3. Mitochondrial respiration rate assay
Mitochondrial respiration rate was measured using an oxygen electrode (Hansatech, UK). Crude mitochondria (1 mg mitochondrial protein) was added to 1 mL of reaction solution containing 0.3 M sucrose, 10 mM TES-KOH (pH 7.5), 5 mM KH
2PO
4, 10 mM NaCl, 2 mM MgSO
4 and 0.1% (w/v) BSA, and was always kept at 20 °C. NADH (10 mM), succinic acid (10 mM) and ADP (0.8 mM) were added according to Logan et al. [
34].
4.4. ATP content determination
ATP content was determined using ATP Content Assay Kit (Solarbio, Beijing, China) according to the instructions of the manufacturer. Mitochondria pellets were resuspended in 1 mL extraction buffer and centrifuged at 10,000× g for 10 min. 500 μL chloroform were added in supernatant, and then centrifuged at 10,000× g for 3 min. The supernatant was collected for detection ATP.
4.5. Mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase activity
Mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase activity was based on the reversible reaction of NAD+ oxidizing L-malic acid to oxaloacetate, which was determined by monitoring the increase in absorbance at 340 nm and 25 °C. and 0.5 mg of mitochondrial protein was added to the reaction solution (0.1 M potassium phosphate, pH 7.5, 0.2 mM NADH, 5 mM oxaloacetic acid).
4.6. Western blot t analysis
Equal amounts of mitochondrial protein (10 μg per lane) were loaded onto 12% SDS-PAGE gels, transferred to PVDF, using the Mini Trans-Blot cell electrophoresis apparatus (Bio-Rad, USA). Blots were incubated with the following antibodies: Nad4, Nad4L, Nad6, Nad7 (Beijing Protein Innovation, China); 51 kDa, 75 kDa, 18 kDa, 39 kDa (Phytoab, USA); cyt c, AOX1, Nad3, GLDH, γ-CA (Agrisera, Sweden). A secondary antibody was anti-rabbit IgG (Agrisera, Sweden). LI-COR Odyssey dual-color infrared fluorescence imaging system (LI-COR Biosciences, USA) was used for imaging observation.
4.7. Statistical Analyses
High-confidence results were obtained by using moderated t-test (Limma) with rank products based on well-defined null hypotheses. Differences at the level of p < 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001 were considered as significant, which were respectively labeled as ∗, ∗∗, and ∗∗∗, respectively.