The whole life of a plant is regulated by complex environmental or hormonal signaling networks that control genomic stability, environmental signal transduction, and gene expression affecting plant development and viability. Seed germination, responsible for the transformation from seed to seedling, is a key initiation step in plant growth and is controlled by unique physiological and biochemical processes. It is continuously modulated by various factors including epigenetic modifications, hormone transport, ROS signaling, and interaction among them. ROS showed versatile crucial functions in seed germination including various physiological oxidations to nucleic acid, protein, lipid, or chromatin in the cytoplasm, cell wall, and nucleus. This review intends to provide novel insights into underlying mechanisms of seed germination especially associated with the ROS, and considers how these versatile regulatory mechanisms can be developed as useful tools for crop improvement. We have summarized the generation and elimination of ROS during seed germination, with a specific focus on uncovering and understanding the mechanisms of seed germination at the level of phytohormones, ROS, and epigenetic switches, as well as the close connections between them. The findings exhibit that ROS plays multiple roles in regulating the ethylene, ABA, and GA homeostasis as well as the Ca signaling, NO signaling, and MAPK cascade in seed germination via either the signal trigger or the oxidative modifier agent. Further, ROS shows the potential in the nuclear genome remodeling and some epigenetic modifiers function, although the detailed mechanisms are unclear in seed germination. We propose that ROS functions as a hub in the complex network regulating seed germination.

中文翻译：

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种子萌发的调控：ROS、表观遗传和激素方面


植物的整个生命周期受到复杂的环境或激素信号网络的调节，这些网络控制着基因组稳定性、环境信号转导和影响植物发育和活力的基因表达。种子发芽负责从种子到幼苗的转变，是植物生长的关键启动步骤，并受到独特的生理和生化过程的控制。它受到多种因素的持续调节，包括表观遗传修饰、激素转运、ROS 信号传导以及它们之间的相互作用。 ROS 在种子萌发中表现出多种关键功能，包括对细胞质、细胞壁和细胞核中的核酸、蛋白质、脂质或染色质的各种生理氧化。本综述旨在对种子萌发的基本机制（尤其是与 ROS 相关的种子萌发机制）提供新的见解，并考虑如何将这些多功能调节机制开发为作物改良的有用工具。我们总结了种子萌发过程中ROS的产生和消除，重点从植物激素、ROS和表观遗传开关层面揭示和理解种子萌发的机制以及它们之间的密切联系。研究结果表明，ROS 通过信号触发剂或氧化调节剂在调节种子萌发中的乙烯、ABA 和 GA 稳态以及 Ca 信号、NO 信号和 MAPK 级联中发挥多种作用。此外，ROS 显示了核基因组重塑和一些表观遗传修饰功能的潜力，尽管种子萌发的详细机制尚不清楚。我们认为 ROS 在调节种子萌发的复杂网络中发挥着枢纽的作用。