African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12496

Inducement and identification of an endosperm mutant in maize

Ruo-Fei Yang1, Wan-Chen Li1, Jing He1, Shu-Feng Zhou1, Yue-Hui She2 and Feng-Ling Fu1*
1Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611130, China. 2College of Agriculture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611130, China.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 05 October 2011
  •  Published: 30 November 2011

Abstract

To screen a workable dosage combination of gamma-ray and NaN3 for mutation inducement, maize calli were treated with different dosages of 60Co gamma-ray and NaN3. Mutant lines were derived from the regenerated plants. The results indicate that the combination of 20 Gy of gamma-ray and 1 mmol/L of NaNis the most effective for mutation inducement of maize calli. Three endosperm mutant lines with “super sweet” phenotype were derived from the mutated offspring. By complementation test and DNA sequence analysis, their mutation site was found in exon 14 of gene sh2 that encodes adenosine diphosphate glucose pyrophosphorylase. For their highly consistent phenotypes of agronomic characteristics and distinguished molecular mechanism to the previous mutants of gene sh2, these three mutant lines are regarded as a novel multiallelic mutant of gene sh2.

 

Key words: Maize, endosperm mutant, sh2 gene.