Open Access

ARTICLE

Metabolic Profile Analysis and Key Metabolic Pathways Identification in Different Embryo Parts Regulating Dormancy and Germination in Pinus koraiensis

Xinghuan Li¹, Binxi Hao¹, Shimin Cheng¹, Ju Zhang¹, Yuan Song^2,*

1 Department of Health Management, Guiyang Institute of Information Science and Technology, Guiyang, 550025, China
2 College of Eco-Environmental Engineering, Guizhou Minzu University, Guiyang, 550025, China

* Corresponding Author: Yuan Song. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Seed Dormancy, Germination and Ecology: Mechanisms, Regulation, and Applications)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2025, 94(8), 2499-2513. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2025.067104

Received 25 April 2025; Accepted 29 July 2025; Issue published 29 August 2025

Abstract

Pinus koraiensis is the dominant and constructive species of the zonal vegetation in Northeast China, known as the mixed broadleaf-Korean pine forest. Although carbohydrate metabolism pathways in the seed embryo are known to play crucial roles during seed dormancy and germination in P. koraiensis, it remains unclear whether these metabolic pathways function differentially across tissues. P. koraiensis seeds that had undergone different durations of moist chilling in their natural environment, yielding seeds with relatively deeper primary physiological dormancy (DDS) and seeds with released primary physiological dormancy (RDS). A non-targeted metabolomic analysis was conducted on the radicle and hypocotyl-cotyledon portions of both DDS and RDS, before and after a two-week incubation under favorable conditions. Under germination conditions, RDS and DDS showed divergent metabolic profiles, especially regarding carbohydrate metabolism. Specifically, RDS seeds showed significantly reduced substrates of respiratory metabolic pathways in both radicles and hypocotyl-cotyledons. Conversely, the intermediates of the carbohydrate metabolism pathway (particularly the tricarboxylic acid cycle) accumulating in radicles of DDS seeds under germination conditions. Moreover, in RDS, the carbohydrate metabolic pathways were more prevalent in the hypocotyl-cotyledon, while lysine degradation and ascorbate and aldarate metabolism were the dominant metabolic pathways in radicles. In contrast, the tricarboxylic acid cycle showed higher activity in DDS radicles compared to hypocotyl-cotyledons. We further demonstrated that carbohydrate metabolic pathways continue to play a dominant role in both dormancy maintenance and germination processes of P. koraiensis seeds. Notably, the carbohydrate metabolism in radicles likely exerts more critical regulatory functions in these two physiological processes compared to that in cotyledon and hypocotyl tissues.

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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