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Physicochemical properties and development of wheat large and small starch granules during endosperm development

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Abstract

Wheat mature seeds have large, lenticular A-type starch granules, and small, spherical B-type and irregular C-type starch granules. During endosperm development, large amyloplasts came from proplastid, divided and increased in number through binary fission from 4 to 12 days after flowering (DAF). Large starch granules formed and developed in the large amyloplast. One large amyloplast had only one large starch granule. Small amyloplasts came from the protrusion of large amyloplast envelope, divided and increased in number through envelope protrusion after 12 DAF. B-type starch granules formed and developed in small amyloplast from 12 to 18 DAF, C-type starch granules formed and developed in small amyloplast after 18 DAF. Many B- and C-type starch granules might form and develop in one small amyloplast. The amyloplast envelopes were asynchronously degraded and starch granules released into cell matrix when amyloplasts were full of starch granules. Apparent amylose contents of large starch granules were higher than that of small starch granules, and increased with endosperm development. The swelling powers and crystallinity of large starch granule were lower than that of small starch granules, and decreased with endosperm development. Small starch granules displayed broader gelatinization temperature ranges than did large starch granules.

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Abbreviations

AAC:

Apparent amylose content

CLSM:

Confocal laser scanning microscopy

DAF:

Days after flowering

DAP:

Days after pollination

DSC:

Differential scanning calorimetry

LM:

Light microscopy

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

TEM:

Transmission electron microscopy

XRD:

X-ray powder diffraction

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Rugen Xu at Agricultural College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China, for providing wheat materials for this study. This study was financially supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30300215), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu (BK2009186), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20090451252), the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory Program of Plant Functional Genomics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Cunxu Wei, Jun Zhang, Youping Wang & Jianmin Chen

  2. Center of Measurement, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Yifang Chen, Weidong Zhou & Bin Xu

Authors
  1. Cunxu Wei
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  2. Jun Zhang
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  3. Yifang Chen
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  4. Weidong Zhou
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  5. Bin Xu
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  6. Youping Wang
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  7. Jianmin Chen
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Cunxu Wei or Jianmin Chen.

Additional information

Communicated by S. Weidner.

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Wei, C., Zhang, J., Chen, Y. et al. Physicochemical properties and development of wheat large and small starch granules during endosperm development. Acta Physiol Plant 32, 905–916 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-010-0478-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-010-0478-x

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