Abstract
The response of β-amylase in early stage germination of wheat seeds to Bacillus subtilis QM3 was mainly focused on to elucidate the promotion mechanism of B. subtilis QM3. The results showed that the changes in apparent activity of amylase and endosperm liquefaction after the strain QM3 treatment were much more obvious than that of the control group; the activity of β-amylase treated with the different concentrations of the strain QM3 increased significantly (P < 0.05) by 4% (10(7) CFU/mL) and 18.5% (10(6) CFU/mL) at the germination 6 h. Moreover, after presoaking with α-cyclodextrin, the activity of β-amylase increased significantly (P < 0.05) by 18.5% (10(7) CFU/mL) and 23.4% (10(6) CFU/mL) at the same stage of germination; the electrophoretogram of β-amylase isoenzymes showed that there is a growing trend in brightness and width of the band during the early germination from 3 to 6 h of wheat seed treated by the strain QM3 (10(6) CFU/mL). The increase in activity and isoenzyme expression of β-amylase may be one of the important reasons to promote the germination of wheat seeds after being treated by B. subtilis QM3.