Abstract
Storage proteins of the field bean (Vicia faba L., var. minor, cv. “Fribo”) are synthesized and accumulated in the cotyledons during stage 2 of seed development. Deposition of protein reserves takes place in the protein bodies. The generation of protein bodies was investigated electronmicroscopically using ultra-thin sections as well as the freeze-fracturing technique. During the initial period of storage protein formation, globulins are deposited in large vacuoles which later are transformed to give increasing numbers of small vacuoles with decreasing size. The vacuoles disappear early during the stage of storage protein formation and generate the first protein bodies. During the subsequent period of maximum storage protein formation, which takes place at the rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER), swollen ER strands appear which seem to be entirely filled with protein, and these generate ER-produced protein vacuoles (ERPVAC). The vesicles are transformed in a manner comparable to the vacuoles in the initial period of developmental stage 2 and thus generate the major quantity of protein bodies. Both processes seem to represent only two variants of an uniform mechanism of protein body generation.
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Abbreviations
- ER:
-
endoplasmic reticulum
- ERPVAC:
-
ER-produced protein vacuoles
References
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This paper is greatfully dedicated to Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Hans Stubbe, the founder of our institute, on the occasion of his 80th birthday
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Adler, K., Müntz, K. Origin and development of protein bodies in cotyledons of Vicia faba . Planta 157, 401–410 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397197
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397197