Metabolomic and Proteomic Profiles Reveal the Dynamics of Primary Metabolism during Seed Development of Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)

Abstract

Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) belongs to the Nelumbonaceae family. Its seeds are widely consumed in Asian countries as snacks or even medicine. Besides the market value, lotus seed also plays a crucial role in the lotus life cycle. Consequently, it is essential to gain a comprehensive understanding of the development of lotus seed. During its development, lotus seed undergoes cell division, expansion, reserve accumulation, desiccation, and maturation phases. We observed morphological and biochemical changes from 10 to 25 days after pollination (DAP) which corresponded to the reserve synthesis and accumulation phase. The volume of the seed expanded until 20 DAP with the color of the seed coat changing from yellow-green to dark green and gradually fading again. Starch and protein rapidly accumulated from 15 to 20 DAP. To further reveal metabolic adaptation, primary metabolites and proteins profiles were obtained using mass spectrometry based platforms. Metabolites and enzymes involved in sugar metabolism, glycolysis, TCA cycle and amino acid metabolism showed sequential dynamics enabling the clear separation of the different metabolic states during lotus seed development. The integration of the data revealed a highly significant metabolic switch at 15 DAP going through a transition of metabolically highly active tissue to the preparation of storage tissue. The results provide a reference data set for the evaluation of primary metabolism during lotus seed development.

Chromosome Nomenclature and Cytological Characterization of Sacred Lotus

“…Many genetic markers were developed [Yang et al, 2012], and a high-density genetic map with more than 8,000 singlenucleotide polymorphisms was constructed [Liu et al, 2016]. The transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes of different cultivars and their tissues were also profiled [Deng et al, 2015;Moro et al, 2015;Yang et al, 2015a, b;Calzadilla et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2016]. A high-quality draft genome sequence of China Antique was published [Ming et al, 2013].…”

Changes in the mitochondrial proteome of developing maize seed embryos

“…Metabolomic data during seed development have become available recently for several species (Tan et al , Hu et al , Wang et al , Zhen et al ). Intermediates of the TCA cycle and related pathways display a similar accumulation pattern among different species during seed development and accumulate highly in abundance at an early stage (Tan et al , Hu et al , Wang et al , Zhen et al ). These metabolomic observations, together with present physiological and proteomic data, suggest that mitochondria are highly activated early during seed development and probably supplies most of the energy to the embryo at this stage.…”

Integrated Seed Proteome and Phosphoproteome Analyses Reveal Interplay of Nutrient Dynamics, Carbon–Nitrogen Partitioning, and Oxidative Signaling in Chickpea

“…[ 13 ] Seed developmental events were characterized at protein levels in Medicago truncatula , Phaseolus vulgaris, Arachis hypogaea , Pisum sativum, Nelumbo nucifera , Glycine max, Vigna radiata , etc. [ 14–17 ] Protein phosphorylation is commonly involved in key regulatory process, which mediates complex signaling networks in storage organ, seed. [ 18 ] Till date only phosphoproteome of N. nucifera and G. max seeds were investigated in Fabaceae family.…”