Application of targeted 1H NMR profiling to assess the seed vitality of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]

Abstract

The assessment of seed vitality is a common challenge for phytologists, especially with the small amount of precious germplasms involved in breeding research. Researchers try to avoid the loss of precious samples as much as possible. A simple, rapid, and convenient method is urgently required to assess seed longevity or vitality without large dosages and tedious procedures. Therefore, in this study, a comprehensive, simple, very rapid, and convenient method based on ¹H NMR profiling was developed to quantify the constituents in soybean seeds. Additionally, the general and individual partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) approach was used to analyze the vitality determination of black and yellow soybean germplasms, and the corresponding loadings scatter plot and difference analysis helped to identify the biomarkers in soybean seeds with varied seed vitalities. The result demonstrates that arginine, hypoxanthine, O-phosphocholine, and tryptophan are important biomarkers to assess the seed vitality of soybean. The detection of these biomarkers provides an approach for the assessment of soybean seed vitality.