Three pairs of near-isogenic lines with different genetic backgrounds of yellow-seededand black-seeded rape (Brassica napus L.) were used as experiment materials to study therelationship of color formation in the seedcoat with enzyme activity and protein contentin it. The results showed that with similar genetic backgrounds, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase(PPO) activities in the black-seeded lines were muchhigher than in their yellow-seeded counterparts and maximum PAL activity in the seedcoatoccurred comparatively late while no significant difference was present in glutaminesynthetase (GS) between the two types of rape. The plants were treated with red light,blue light, p-hydroxybenzoic acid (a PAL inhibitor), polyvinylpyridoxal (a PPO inhibitor),urea (a protein synthesis promoter) or chloramphenicol (CM, a plastid protein synthesisinhibitor) during seed development. It is speculated that PAL may be primarily responsiblefor coloration in the yellow seed; PPO may be the main factor contributing to thedarkness of the testa of the black genotypes; and nitrogen assimilation is, probably, notdirectly related to the difference in protein content observed between yellow- andblack-seeded genotypes, which may be induced mainly by PAL.
