Glutinous (waxy) endosperm starch mutant of Triticum monococcum L.

Abstract

Cultivars or mutant lines which contain glutinous endosperm starch have been developed in seven crops, including rice, maize, barley, etc. However, reports on Triticum species with glutinous endosperm are not available. Attempts were made to induce the mutation of endosperm glutinousness in Triticum monococcum L. by treatment with EMS. Four hundred seeds of T. Inonococcum were pre-soaked for 20h and treated with 0.4% (v/v) EMS for 24h at room temperataure. Germination percentage was 42.0%After transplanting of the M1 seedlings to a field, 99M1 plants died partly due to late transplanting and severe winter weather conditions. However, 2, 016 M2 seeds were harvested from the fertile 59M1 plants which survived. By staining the endosperm starch of the distal part of the seeds with a KI-I2 solution, six out of 2, 016 seeds showed a red brown color, which is the typical reaction of glutinous endosperm starch to KI-I2. Consequently, these six M2 seeds were considered to be glutinous endosperm mutants. The appearance of these seeds was not different from that of the seeds of normal T. monococcum. Two M2 seeds were also obtained, in which the endosperm starch showed a reddish purple color rather than the typical purple color of non-glutinous starch. The present results indicate that glutinous endosperm mutants can be obtained in Triticum species.