NUCLEAR AND CYTOPLASMIC LOCALIZATION OF MAIZE EMBRYO AND ALEURONE DEHYDRIN

The subcellular location of dehydrins was determined by immunomicrosco py in maize kernels imbibed in the presence of ABA. Antibodies were sp ecific to the consensus sequence that exists near the carboxy terminus of virtually all dehydrins. Aleurone, scutellar epithelium, scutellar provascular strands, and the outermost embryonic leaves contained the highest concentration of dehydrins. In these tissues, and in scutella r parenchyma cells and inner embryonic leaves, dehydrins were present in the cytoplasm and associated with nuclei. In shoot and root apex ce lls, dehydrins appeared to be present principally in the cytoplasm. Th is localization pattern of dehydrins, together with the known amino ac id sequences and phosphorylation patterns, leads to analogies with oth er proteins that are present in both the nucleus and cytoplasm of euka ryotic cells.