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Thioredoxin h System and Wheat Seed Quality

¹Université de Toulouse–Ecole d'Ingénieurs de Purpan, Laboratoire d'Agrophysiologie, UPSP/DGER 115, 75 voie du Toec, BP 57611, 31076 Toulouse cedex 03, France. ²Corresponding author. Phone: 33-561152989. Fax: 33-561153060. E-mail address: roland.cazalis@purpan.fr

Thioredoxin is one of the key systems controlling cellular redox balance in all living organisms. Plant thioredoxins are a diverse multigene family divided into two systems, the chloroplastic and the cytoplasmic systems, which are distinguishable by the electron donor and by the enzyme that catalyses thioredoxin reduction. In cereal seed, the thioredoxin (Trx) h system acts in the developing phase, controlling the delivery of compounds during seed filling. Early in the development of the imbibed seed, it promotes the mobilization of storage nitrogen and carbon in the endosperm by inhibiting the inactivators of amylolytic enzyme and by activating a specific serine protease, thiocalsin. During seed maturation and germination, the Trx h system controls oxidative stress in the living tissues, specifically in the scutellum and the aleurone layer, where it accumulates in the nucleus. The overexpression and the suppression of Trx confirm these features and constitute a powerful tool to manage seed quality, due to the large number of Trx h isoforms and to the specific nature of some of them.