Domestication has altered the ABA and gibberellin profiles in developing pea seeds

International audienceMain conclusion We showed that wild pea seeds contained a more diverse combination of bioactive GAs and had higher ABA content than domesticated peas. Although the role of abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GAs) interplay has been extensively studied in Arabidopsis and cereals models, comparatively little is known about the effect of domestication on the level of phytohormonesin legume seeds. In legumes, as in other crops, seed dormancy has been largely or entirely removed during domestication.In this study, we have measured the endogenous levels of ABA and GAs comparatively between wild and domesticated peaseeds during their development. We have shown that wild seeds contained more ABA than domesticated ones, which couldbe important for preparing the seeds for the period of dormancy. ABA was catabolised particularly by an 8´-hydroxylationpathway, and dihydrophaseic acid was the main catabolite in seed coats as well as embryos. Besides, the seed coats of wildand pigmented cultivated genotypes were characterised by a broader spectrum of bioactive GAs compared to non-pigmenteddomesticated seeds. GAs in both seed coat and embryo were synthesized mainly by a 13-hydroxylation pathway, with GA29being the most abundant in the seed coat and GA20 in the embryos. Measuring seed water content and water loss indicateddomesticated pea seeds´ desiccation was slower than that of wild pea seeds. Altogether, we showed that pea domesticationled to a change in bioactive GA composition and a lower ABA content during seed development