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Germination of Wheat: A Functional Proteomics Analysis of the Embryo

¹Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. ²Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia. ³Food Science Australia, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia. ⁴Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia. ⁵Corresponding author. Fax: +61-2-9351 2945. E-mail: l.copeland@usyd.edu.au

Germination in the soft wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar Rosella was followed for three days after imbibition by proteomic analysis of the germ tissue. Two-dimensional electrophoresis was performed in triplicate for proteins extracted from embryos dissected from mature grain and from grains germinated for 1, 2, and 3 days. For this period, 63 proteins (in 86 spots) in the germ were identified as decreasing in abundance, 35 proteins (in 60 spots) as increasing in abundance, and 28 proteins (in 39 spots) as exhibiting no significant abundance change. Proteins with significant abundance changes are discussed in relation to physiology; these include proteases, amylases and amylase inhibitors, enzymes in lipid metabolism, proteins related to water stress, cell wall hydrolases, oxalate oxidase, and H⁺-ATPases. Functions associated with proteins synthesized during the germination period are inconsistent with the embryo of mature grain being fully primed for germination.