Characterization of a wheat mutant line 1813WH presenting increased seed dormancy and longevity, and reduced pre-harvest sprouting

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) poses an enormous threat to wheat production; enhancing seed dormancy is an effective strategy to mitigate PHS. However, as a highly complex trait, seed dormancy is governed by polygenes and is difficult to be enhanced in genetic manipulation. In this study, a wheat mutant 1813WH was generated from a PHS-sensitive line “Long 13-3778” through EMS treatment. The mutant exhibited significantly enhanced seed dormancy with a germination index (GI) of only 4.57% (wild type: 42.77%, P < 0.01), accompanied by altered agronomic traits including reduced plant height and tillering, prolonged reproductive period, thicker internodes, increased grain size, and higher 1000-grain weight (P < 0.05); seed longevity was significantly improved, maintaining stable germination dynamics under accelerated aging treatment; metabolite detection showed that its raffinose content was 3.5 times that of the wild type, glutathione (GSH) content was 9.8 times, and the GSH/GSSG ratio was significantly increased (10.74 vs. wild type 0.68); combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses indicated significant enrichment of glutathione metabolism, galactose metabolism (related to raffinose family oligosaccharide synthesis), and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle pathways, with decreased contents of TCA cycle intermediates and differential expression of key genes in related pathways. This study provided evidence for the potential relationship between seed dormancy and longevity, which may have broad implications for the conservation and utilization of germplasm resources, as well as new materials for wheat breeding aiming at enhancing seed dormancy and longevity.