ABSTRACT Alpha-galactosides or Raffinose Family Oligosaccharides (RFOs) are enriched in legumes and are considered as anti-nutritional factors responsible for inducing flatulence. Due to a lack of alpha-galactosidases in the stomachs of humans and other monogastric animals, these RFOs are not metabolized and are passed to the intestines to be processed by gut bacteria leading to distressing flatulence. In plants, alpha(α)-galactosides are involved in desiccation tolerance during seed maturation and act as a source of stored energy utilized by germinating seeds. The hydrolytic enzyme alpha-galactosidase (α-GAL) can break down RFOs into sucrose and galactose releasing the monosaccharide α-galactose back into the system. Through characterization of RFOs, sucrose, reducing sugars, and α-GAL activity in maturing and germinating chickpeas, we show that stored RFOs are likely required to maintain a steady-state level of reducing sugars. These reducing sugars can then be readily converted to generate energy required for the high energy-demanding germination process. Our observations indicate that RFO levels are lowest in imbibed seeds and rapidly increase post-imbibition. Both RFOs and the α-GAL activity are possibly required to maintain a steady-state level of the reducing monosaccharide sugars, starting from dry seeds all the way through post-germination, to provide the energy for increased germination vigor.

中文翻译：

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α-半乳糖苷酶活性的空间调控及其对Cicer arietinum种子成熟和萌发过程中棉子糖家族寡糖的影响

摘要 α-半乳糖苷或棉子糖家族低聚糖 (RFO) 富含豆类，被认为是导致肠胃胀气的抗营养因子。由于人类和其他单胃动物的胃中缺乏 α-半乳糖苷酶，这些 RFO 不会被代谢并被传递到肠道，由肠道细菌进行处理，从而导致令人痛苦的肠胃胀气。在植物中，α(α)-半乳糖苷在种子成熟过程中参与干燥耐受性，并作为种子发芽所利用的储存能量来源。水解酶 α-半乳糖苷酶 (α-GAL) 可以将 RFO 分解为蔗糖和半乳糖，将单糖 α-半乳糖释放回系统中。通过表征成熟和发芽鹰嘴豆中的 RFO、蔗糖、还原糖和 α-GAL 活性，我们表明，可能需要储存的 RFO 来维持还原糖的稳态水平。然后这些还原糖可以很容易地转化为高能量需求的发芽过程所需的能量。我们的观察表明，RFO 水平在吸收的种子中最低，并且在吸收后迅速增加。RFO 和 α-GAL 活性都可能需要维持还原性单糖的稳态水平，从干燥种子开始一直到发芽后，为增加发芽活力提供能量。我们的观察表明，RFO 水平在吸收的种子中最低，并且在吸收后迅速增加。RFO 和 α-GAL 活性都可能需要维持还原性单糖的稳态水平，从干燥种子开始一直到发芽后，为增加发芽活力提供能量。我们的观察表明，RFO 水平在吸收的种子中最低，并且在吸收后迅速增加。RFO 和 α-GAL 活性都可能需要维持还原性单糖的稳态水平，从干燥种子开始一直到发芽后，为增加发芽活力提供能量。