ELONGATION-FACTOR 1-ALPHA CONCENTRATION IS HIGHLY CORRELATED WITH THELYSINE CONTENT OF MAIZE ENDOSPERM

Citation
Je. Habben et al., ELONGATION-FACTOR 1-ALPHA CONCENTRATION IS HIGHLY CORRELATED WITH THELYSINE CONTENT OF MAIZE ENDOSPERM, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 92(19), 1995, pp. 8640-8644
Citations number
39
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary Sciences
ISSN journal
00278424
Volume
92
Issue
19
Year of publication
1995
Pages
8640 - 8644
Database
ISI
SICI code
0027-8424(1995)92:19<8640:E1CIHC>2.0.ZU;2-B
Abstract
Lysine is the most limiting essential amino acid in cereals, and for m any years plant breeders have attempted to increase its concentration to improve the nutritional quality of these grains, The opaque2 mutati on in maize doubles the lysine content in the endosperm, but the mecha nism by which this occurs is unknown, We show that elongation factor 1 alpha(EF-1 alpha) is overexpressed in opaque2 endosperm compared with its normal counterpart and that there is a highly significant correla tion between EF-1 alpha concentration and the total lysine content of the endosperm. This relationship is also true for two other cereals, s orghum and barley, It appears that genetic selection for genotypes wit h a high concentration of EF-1 alpha can significantly improve the nut ritional quality of maize and other cereals.