Increased Lysine and Seed Storage Protein in Rice Plants Recovered from Calli Selected with Inhibitory Levels of Lysine plus Threonine and S-(2-Aminoethyl)cysteine

Abstract

Experiments were designed to test whether variation in percent lysine in seed proteins could be recovered in plants regenerated from callus subjected to inhibitory levels of lysine plus threonine. Anther-derived callus was subjected to 1 millimolar lysine plus threonine for three successive passages and then once to the same concentration of S-(2-aminoethyl)cysteine. Plants were regenerated from the resistant callus. Plants recovered directly from tissue culture were normal in color, size and were 50% or less fertile. Second and third generation plants produced a wide range of variants including albinos, deep green plants both short and tall, and totally fertile as well as partially fertile plants. All regenerated plants produced chalky or opaque seed. One unique second generation line had 14% more lysine in seed storage proteins than the controls. This characteristic was transmitted to the next generation. The high lysine plants had reduced seed size with significantly higher levels of seed storage protein than the controls. The phenotypes recovered provide experimental materials for basic studies in protein synthesis and lysine metabolism and may become a source of material for rice breeding.