Deterioration of western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) seeds: protein oxidation and in vivo NMR monitoring of storage oils

Deterioration of conifer seeds during prolonged storage hasa negative impact on reforestation and gene conservation efforts.Western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) is a speciesof tremendous value to the forest industry. The seeds of thisspecies are particularly prone to viability losses during long-termstorage. Reliable tools to assess losses in seed viability duringstorage and their underlying causes, as well as the developmentof methods to prevent storage-related deterioration of seedsare needed by the forest industry. In this work, various imagingmethods and biochemical analyses were applied to study deteriorationof western redcedar seeds. Seedlots that exhibited poor germinationperformance, i.e. those that had experienced the greatest lossesof viability during prolonged storage, exhibited greater abundanceof oxidized proteins, detected by protein oxidation assays,and more pronounced changes in their in vivo ¹³C NMR spectra,most likely due to storage oil oxidation. The proportion ofoxidized proteins also increased when seeds were subjected toaccelerated ageing treatments. Detection of oxidized oils andproteins may constitute a reliable and useful tool for the forestindustry. Key words: Conifer seeds, in vivo NMR spectroscopy, MRI, oil peroxidation, protein carbonylation, seed deterioration, seed storage, storage lipids, western redcedarReceived 23 May 2007; Revised 28 November 2007 Accepted 17 December 2007