The effect of the high lysine genes of the barley mutants Risø 1508 and 527 on embryo development

1399-3054

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Biology

Dry weight of 34-day-old embryos from barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cv. Bomi and high lysine mutants 527, 1508 and the double mutant 527/1508 were 1.00, 1.13, 1.56 and 2.22 mg, respectively. Embryos of the four lines were compared by light and electron microscopy and two dimensional gel electrophoresis. Morphological differences were restricted to the scutellar tissue, which had an irregular form in 1508 and the double mutant. Average scutellar cell volumes in 34-day-old embryos from cv. Bomi, mutants 527, 1508, and 527/1508 were 4 200, 8 300, 4 900 and 23 400 μm3. respectively. The starch content of the scutellar parenchyma cells was slightly higher in mutant 527 than in cv. Bomi, and considerably higher in mutant 1508 and the double mutant. The two dimensional gel electrophoretic examination showed that seven of the embryo protein spots were of a significantly different size in the mutants relative to those from cv. Bomi. Among these seven proteins, one was apparent only in the double mutant, four were more abundant in the mutants than in cv. Bomi and two were less abundant. The isoelectric points and the molecular weights of these proteins do not correspond exactly to those of proteins previously described in barley seeds.

Electronic Resource