Treatment of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds with cold plasma induces changes in seedling and plant development and protein expression

Abstract

Successful seed germination and seedling establishment are critical steps in agricultural production and in the maintenance of natural ecosystems. Seed treatment cold plasma (CP), is an emerging eco-agricultural technology that has been suggested to stimulate plant growth. In addition to sterilization effect, treatment of seeds with CP has been shown to have effect on a broad spectrum of plant development and physiological processes. Although the body of information on the biological effects of the CP is growing, the complex biological mechanisms involved in the plant response remains vague. To gain an insight into the cellular processes underlying response of Arabidopsis thaliana to the CP seed treatment, seedlings and plant morphological changes, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and differential protein expression was assessed. The most prominent morphological effect was observed after the seed treatment for 0,5-4,5 min at 3 mm distance from the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma source at 60-80% air humidity, after the seeds were stored for 7 days at 25 oC. The treated plants had more compact rosette and longer flower stems. Assessment of ROS production in germinated seedlings using nitro blue tetrazolium and 3,3′- diaminobezidine staining revealed increase in accumulation of superoxide and H2O2. The 2Delectrophoresis analysis revealed 34 and 4 proteoforms differentially expressed after CP treatment in seedlings and leaves, respectively. Proteins involved in biological processes of response to stress and metabolism were identifiedBiochemijos katedraGamtos mokslų fakultetasLietuvos agrarinių ir miškų mokslų centro Sodininkystės ir daržininkystės institutasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta