Expression of zein in long term cultures of wildtype and opaque-2 maize endosperms.
It has been reported that long term cell cultures from maize endosperms are not completely de-differentiated, maintaining some tissue-specific synthesis. We analyzed the expression of zein (the major storage protein of maize seeds) in cultures derived from wildtype and opaque-2 maize endosperms. In wildtype cultures, our data indicate a severe restriction in zein accumulation, resulting both from reduction of transcription and from post-transcriptional events. No detectable zein proteins and trace amounts of transcripts were found in opaque-2 cultures, which do not therefore exhibit a distinctive opaque-2 phenotype.
Istituto Biosintesi Vegetali, C.N.R., Via Bassini, 15, I-20133, Milano, Italy.
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