Endosperm and starch granule morphology in wild cereal relatives
- 14 May 2008
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization
- Vol. 6 (02), 85-97
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s1479262108986512
Abstract
Australia's native grass species contain a diverse array of wild cereal relatives which are adapted to a broader range of environmental conditions than current commercial cereals and may contain novel alleles which have utility in commercial production systems. Characterizing the available variation in endosperm morphology is one of the first steps towards in planta manipulation of endosperm by either the introgression of novel alleles or bioengineering cereal starch and protein. The endosperm of 19 crop wild relatives (CWR) was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Mature caryopses were fixed, dehydrated, critical-point dried and then snap fractured transversely through the grain. Wild relatives exhibited similar types of starch granules to that of their respective cultivated species, though in general the wild species retained a greater proportion of the endosperm cell wall at maturity. The two species examined with no closely related cultivated species exhibited a rice-like endosperm. Wild sorghum relatives exhibited an abundance of endosperm variations described as variations in starch granule size, shape and surface morphology, and the distribution of protein bodies. This is particularly important because the grain of Sorghum bicolor has inherently low starch and protein digestibility. These variations within the wild relatives of commercial cereals may provide novel sources of genetic diversity for future grain improvement programmes.Keywords
This publication has 38 references indexed in Scilit:
- A Novel Modified Endosperm Texture in a Mutant High‐Protein Digestibility/High‐Lysine Grain Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)Cereal Chemistry Journal, 2006
- Effect of starch granule structure, associated components and processing on nutritive value of cereal starch: A reviewAnimal Feed Science and Technology, 2005
- Sorghum laxiflorum and S. macrospermum, the Australian native species most closely related to the cultivated S. bicolor based on ITS1 and ndhF sequence analysis of 25 Sorghum speciesÖsterreichische botanische Zeitschrift, 2004
- Properties of Korean Amaranth Starch Compared to Waxy Millet and Waxy Sorghum StarchesStarch ‐ Stärke, 2004
- Morphological, thermal, rheological and retrogradation properties of potato starch fractions varying in granule sizeJournal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2004
- Studies of the fracture surface of rice grains using environmental scanning electron microscopyJournal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2004
- Starch—composition, fine structure and architectureJournal of Cereal Science, 2004
- Application of High‐Intensity Ultrasound and Surfactants in Rice Starch IsolationCereal Chemistry Journal, 2004
- Associations of Starch Gel Hardness, Granule Size, Waxy Allelic Expression, Thermal Pasting, Milling Quality, and Kernel Texture of 12 Soft Wheat CultivarsCereal Chemistry Journal, 2000
- Granule Size Distribution and Chemical Composition of Starches from 12 Soft Wheat CultivarsCereal Chemistry Journal, 1998