EPICUTICULAR WAX VARIATION IN ECOTYPES OF ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA

Quantification of the epicuticular wax from the stems of 40 ecotypes o f Arabidopsis thaliana showed a two-fold range in total wax load that was not correlated to known abiotic characteristics of the ecotype's o rigin of collection. Chemical analysis of these ecotypes revealed simi lar epicuticular wax profiles for all ecotypes except CT-1. In CT-1 th e amount of 22 and 24 carbon length primary alcohols was increased by 16-and 18-fold, respectively, over that observed in the epicuticular w ax averaged over all ecotypes. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.