Fluctuation of Vegetative Storage Proteins in the Seedlings of Swietenia macrophylla, Analogous to the Seasonal Changes of Those in the Shoot of the Adult Tree

• Published in: Journal of integrative plant biology Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 362 - 367
• Main Authors: Han, Ya-Qin, Yan, Xing-Fu, Zhang, Hua, Hu, Zheng-Hai, Hao, Bing-Zhong, Tian, Wei-Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2007; College of Horticulture, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an 271018, China; Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China%Key Laboratory of Ministry of Agriculture for Tropical Crop Physiology, Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou 571737, China%Institute of Botany, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, China; Key Laboratory of Ministry of Agriculture for Tropical Crop Physiology, Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou 571737, China
• Subjects: rhythmical growth; seedlings; Swietenia macrophylla King; vegetative storage proteins; vegetative storage proteins; rhythmical growth; seedlings; Swietenia macrophylla King
• ISSN: 1672-9072; 1744-7909
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7909.2007.00437.x

In order to identify appropriate plant materials for studying the gene expression and biological function of vegetative storage proteins (VSPs) in woody plants, the VSPs in the seedlings of Swietenia macrophylla King were investigated by using light microscopy, sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE) and Western‐blotting. The seed of S. macrophylla was rich in storage proteins that accumulated in the vacuoles of cotyledon parenchyma cells in appearance of compact spherical grains. The growth and development of S. macrophylla seedlings were characterized by an obvious growth rhythm. The storage proteins in seeds disappeared during seedling growth while VSPs appeared in the stem 2 weeks after seedling leaves matured. Thereafter, the VSPs in the seedling stem almost exhausted during new shoot growth, and when the leaves of new shoot just matured, both the stem beneath the new shoot of seedlings and the stem of new shoot started to accumulate VSPs. Nitrogen application dramatically increased the level of VSPs, but had little influence on the dynamics of VSP consumption and accumulation in seedling stem. Together with these data, the fluctuation of VSPs in seedlings was very similar to that in the branches of the adult trees. In addition, seedlings are easy to be treated due to their small size. Our results suggested that S. macrophylla seedlings were suitable for investigating the biological roles of VSPs and the mechanism of nitrogen storage in trees.