title: Expression of modified tocopherol content and profile in sunflower tissues.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alpha-tocopherol is the predominant tocopherol form in sunflower seeds. Sunflower lines that accumulate increased levels of beta-, gamma- and delta-tocopherol in seeds as well as lines with reduced and increased total seed tocopherol content have been developed. The objective of this research was to evaluate whether the modified tocopherol levels are expressed in plant tissues other than seeds.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lines with increased levels of beta-, gamma- and delta-tocopherol in seeds also possessed increased levels of these tocopherols in leaves, roots and pollen. Correlation coefficients for the proportion of individual tocopherols in different plant tissues were significantly positive in all cases, ranging from 0.68 to 0.97. A line with reduced tocopherol content in seeds also showed reduced content in roots and pollen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Genetic modifications producing altered seed tocopherol profiles in sunflower are also expressed in leaves, roots and pollen. Reduced total seed tocopherol content is mainly expressed at the root and pollen level. The expression of tocopherol mutations in other plant tissues will enable further studies on the physiological role of tocopherols and could be of interest for early selection for these traits in breeding programmes.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAS-CSIC), Alameda del Obispo s/n, E-14004 Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Del Moral
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Fernández-Martínez
authors.forename: Begoña
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pérez-Vich
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Velasco
mesh_terms: D001947:Breeding; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D006368:Helianthus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism; D011058:Pollen / Q000378:metabolism; D012639:Seeds / Q000378:metabolism; D024505:Tocopherols / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D024505:Tocopherols