1. Cottonseed Storage Proteins as a Tool for Developmental Biology
- Author
-
Caryl A. Chlan, Glenn A. Galau, and Leon Dure
- Subjects
chemistry.chemical_classification ,education.field_of_study ,Ontogeny ,Period (gene) ,Population ,Embryogenesis ,Biology ,Cell biology ,chemistry ,Biochemistry ,Storage protein ,education ,Developmental biology ,Gene ,Organism - Abstract
Our interest in the storage proteins of the cotton seed stems from the fact that they represent the products of genes that are expressed during a specific period during seed development. Thus their expression is regulated by developmental cues, and it is the comprehension of the molecular nature of these cues that is the principle interest of our laboratory. In order to provide a background to searching for these cues, we have attempted to describe the embryogenesis of this organism in terms of changes in the population of expressed genes by following the changes in the population of mRNAs and proteins during this phase of ontogeny. We have observed other sets of gene products (mRNAs) that are expressed before, after or overlapping with the storage protein genes. Presumably each set is expressed in response to different cues that arise in the tissue at specific times in embryogenesis so as to produce the mature seed capable of successful germination. In order to use the storage protein genes as a tool in the search for the molecular bases of developmental cues, we have examined storage protein properties and biosynthesis in some detail.
- Published
- 1983
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