Chemical Characterization of a Shriveled Seed Trait in Peanut

Abstract

Seed morphology mutations affecting the major seed components in pea (Pisum sativum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) opened specialty markets for these crops. Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important oil and food crop of the world. Genetic alteration of seed composition may be useful in expanding markets for this crop. Some lines from the University of Florida peanut breeding program showed seed shriveling characteristic even when harvested mature. In the present study, three shriveled lines (529B, 563A, and 647A) were chemically characterized and compared with a normal‐seeded cultivar, Sunrunner. They were found to have only one third to two thirds the amount of storage lipid and double the amount of sucrose as normal peanuts. Differences were also observed for seed protein concentration, when expressed on a defatted meal basis. Higher relative proportions of phospholipid to triacylglycerol may indicate a block in the biochemical pathway for the conversion of sucrose into triacylglycerol in the shriveled seed mutants. Sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE) patterns revealed that there were differences in the levels of various proteins between normal seed and shriveled seed phenotypes. Differences were identified in the level of accumulation of storage lipid and also in the various proteins during the development of the shriveled seed.