Variation of glutelin seed storage protein in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Abstract

The glutelin seed storage protein from 80 cultivars of rice (Oryza sativa L.) was analysed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A deletion of one of the glutelin a subunits, α-3, was found in 16 cultivars. All of these cultivars which show this deletion, belong to the Indica type of rice, not the Japonica type. This suggests that there might be a close relationship between the α-3 subunit deletion and the differentiation or distrrbution of rice.