In vivo nuclear magnetic resonance metabolite profiling in plant seeds

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been successfully applied to profile a variety of primary and secondary metabolites in whole intact plant seeds in vivo. The nondestructive nature of NMR spectroscopy allows direct metabolic studies to be performed on the same seed throughout a given physio-logical process or key lifecycle transition, such as dormancy breakage, germination, and early postgerminative growth. Multinuclear NMR is capable of evaluating seed quality by assessing nondestructively nutrient reserves and seed protectants at seed maturity and to further monitor reserve mobilization following germination, which is critical for seedling emergence. In this chapter, we illustrate the use of several in vivo NMR techniques for metabolite profiling in seeds. Importantly, some of these methods have potential for the screening of single seeds or seed populations to identify seedlots with compromised viability either due to developmental problems or as a result of deterioration during prolonged storage.