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ARS Home » Midwest Area » East Lansing, Michigan » Sugarbeet and Bean Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #122886

Title: GENETIC DETERMINANTS OF SEEDLING EMERGENCE AND VIGOR IN BETA VULGARIS

Author
item De Los Reyes, Benildo
item Myers, Susan
item McGrath, Jon

Submitted to: Experiment Station Bulletins
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/9/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Poor seedling emergence is a recurrent problem in sugarbeet, and is related to the lack of vigor among many commercial cultivars. Previous data from replicated field trials were consistent with anecdotal evidence indicating that some varieties have superior emergence potential. The biological basis for these differences is complex and determined both by the genetics of the eseed and by the germination environment. In particular, tolerance to abiotic stresses during the early stages of germination appears to be a major factor that determines the expression of vigor in sugarbeet seedlings. A simple system that allows comparison of germination in the laboratory under sub-optimal conditions predicted the cultivar differences observed under field conditions. This assay also indicated that hydrogen peroxide is an inducer of sugarbeet germination under sub-optimal conditions. This system was used as a model to elucidate the molecular and biochemical basis of seedling emergence and of vigor in sugarbeet. Transcript profiling indicated both qualitative and quantitative changes in gene expression during germination of USH20 under both optimal and sub- optimal conditions. We identified a gene, germin, whose expression pattern provided a molecular basis for the observed responses of sugarbeet seedlings to stress.