Analysis of the First Steps of Prolamins Assembly and polymerization During Wheat Grain Development

摘要

Protein bodies are the transitory storage organelles of wheat prolamins in the developing endosperm. Very few information is available concerning the organization of prolamins into these protein bodies. These organelles were studied both in the endosperm cells and in isolated fractions at various stages of development. Wheat protein bodies were characterized by Western blotting and microscopy techniques (TEM and CLSM), using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies (specific of different types of prolamins). We showed that different prolamin types were co-localized in the same organelles, thus suggesting that some oligomerization had already occurred. Polymerized prolamins in protein bodies were characterized by size exclusion chromatography after sequential extraction. Our results show that the characterization of proteins in wheat protein bodies provides important information on the first steps of prolamin polymerization during grain development.