Hydrogen peroxide signaling integrates with phytohormones during the germination of magnetoprimed tomato seeds

Seeds of tomato were magnetoprimed at 100 mT for 30 min followed by imbibition for 12 and 24 h, respectively, at 20 degrees C, to examine the biochemical and molecular changes involved in homeostasis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and its signaling associated with hormone interactions for promoting vigor. The relative transcript profiles of genes involved in the synthesis of H2O2 like Cu-amine oxidase (AO), receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK1) homologue (ArcA2) and superoxide dismutase (SOD1 and SOD9) increased in magnetoprimed tomato seeds as compared to unprimed ones with a major contribution (21.7-fold) from Cu-amine oxidase. Amongst the genes involved in the scavenging of H2O2 i.e, metallothionein (MT1, MT3 and MT4), catalase (CAT1) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX1 and APX2), MT1 and MT4 exhibited 14.4- and 15.4-fold increase respectively, in the transcript abundance, in primed seeds compared to the control. We report in our study that metallothionein and RACK1 play a vital role in the reactive oxygen species mediated signal transduction pathway to enhance the speed of germination in magnetoprimed tomato seeds. Increased enzymatic activities of catalase and ascorbate peroxidase were observed at 12 h of imbibition in the magnetoprimed seeds indicating their roles in maintaining H2O2 levels in the primed seeds. The upregulation of ABA 8'-hydroxylase and GA3 oxidase1 genes eventually, lead to the decreased abscisic acid/gibberellic acid (ABA/GA(3)) ratio in the primed seeds, suggesting the key role of H(2)O(2 )in enhancing the germination capacity of magnetoprimed tomato seeds.