The structural characteristics of protein body accumulation in different endosperm regions of hard wheat cultivar(XM33) and soft wheat cultivar(NM13) under drought stress were investigated. Drought stress treatment was implemented from plant regreening to the caryopsis mature stage. Microscope images of endosperm cells were obtained using resin semithin slice technology to observe the distribution and relative area of protein body(PB). Compared with NM13, relative PB area of XM33 was significantly higher in sub-aleurone endosperm region. The amount of accumulation, including the size and relative area of PB, in two wheat cultivars was higher in sub-aleurone region than that in central region at 18 days post anthesis(DPA). Drought stress significantly enhanced the sizes and relative areas of PBs in the dorsal and abdominal endosperms in two wheat cultivars. Particularly for dorsal endosperm, drought stress enhanced the relative PB area at 18 DPA and NM13(5.0% vs. 6.73%) showed less enhancement than XM33(5.49% vs. 8.96%). However, NM13(9.58% vs. 12.02%) showed greater enhancement than XM33(10.25% vs. 11.7%) at 28 DPA. The protein content in the dorsal and abdominal endosperms of the two wheat cultivars decreased at 12 DPA and then increased until 38 DPA. Drought stress significantly increased the protein contents in the two main regions. From 12 to 38 DPA, the amount of PB accumulation and the protein content were higher in XM33 than those in NM13. The results revealed that PB distribution varied in different endosperm tissues and that the amount of PB accumulation was remarkably augmented by drought stress.
This study provided visual evidence of a nitrogen effect on starch granules(SGs) in wheat endosperm. Winter wheat(Titicum aestivum L.) cultivar Xumai 30 was cultured under no nitrogen(control) and 240 kg ha-1of nitrogen applied at the booting stage. The number, morphology, and size of Aand B-type SGs in subaleurone of dorsal endosperm(SDE), center of dorsal endosperm(CDE), modified aleurone(MA), subaleurone of ventral endosperm(SVE), and center of ventral endosperm(CVE) were observed under light and electron microscopes.(1) The distribution of SGs in SDE was similar to that in SVE, the distributions of SGs in CDE and CVE were similar, but the distribution of SGs in MA was different from those in the other four endosperm regions. The number of SGs in the five endosperm regions was in the order SDE > CDE > SVE > CVE > MA.(2) Nitrogen increased the number of Aand B-type SGs in SDE and SVE. Nitrogen also increased the number of B-type SGs but decreased the number of A-type SGs in CDE and CVE. Nitrogen decreased the numbers of A-type and B-type SGs in MA. The results suggest that increased N fertilizer application mainly increased the numbers of small SGs and decreased the numbers of large SGs, but that the results varied in different regions of the wheat endosperm.
Fei XiongXurun YuLiang ZhouJing ZhangYanping JinDongliang LiZhong Wang
