Diversity Of Phenotypes Of Zeins In Seeds Of Maize Inbreed Lines

Maize belonging to Gramineae is the third important crops after wheat and rice. Its proteins play an important role in germination and growth, providing amino acids for livestock and human. Moreover, its seed is widely used in the various industries including food, feed, medicine, brewing, etc. The major proteins in maize are prolamins (zeins). There are four components of 21-27kD a,27-28kDaγ,17-18kDa P and 10-14.4kDaδ. The zeins are responsible for the nutritional characters of maize proteins.In this study, biochemical characters of zeins in maize germplasms with various agronomic and endospermic characters are screened by SDS-PAGE, gel imaging system and statistical analysis.10 phenotypes of zeins were found, which were control types of 4 zein components, lacked type of y, high content type ofα1, high content type ofα2, low content type ofα2, high MW type of (3 and lacked type of 8 respectively. The results show the genetic variety of zein characters in maize and the complexity of molecular composition and genetic mechanism of zeins. This work can provide direct theoretical basis and precious material for maize breeding of protein nutritional quality, and meet the diverse social-needs for maize proteins. Futhermore, it laid the foundations of genetic research of zein synthesis and accumulation.