Turesson, Helle
- Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2010Peer reviewed
Turesson, Helle; Marttila, Salla; Gustavsson, Karl-Erik; Hofvander, Per; Olsson, Marie; Bülow, Leif; Stymne, Sten; Carlsson, Anders
Premise of the study: Storage oil (triacylglycerol) accumulates in tissues such as the embryo and endosperm of seeds and the fruit mesocarp, but seldom in underground organs. As a rare exception, cultivated variants of yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) contain high amounts of both oil and starch in the mature tubers.Methods: Biochemical analyses and light and electron microscopy were used to study the accumulation patterns of storage nutrients in developing nutsedge tubers.Key results: During the initial phase of tuber development, the conducting rhizome tissue is transformed into a storage compartment, then massive storage reserves accumulate in the tuber. At the beginning of tuber development, a large sugar load coincided with the onset of starch accumulation. Oil accumulation started later, concomitant with a substantial drop in the sugar content. Initially, oil accumulated at a lower rate compared to starch, but the rate later increased; after 6 wk, oil made up 24% of tuber dry mass, while starch made up 32%. Protein concentration changed only a small amount throughout this development. Oil and starch accumulated in the same cells throughout the tubers in a sequential fashion during tuber development.Conclusions: The developmental pattern in the build up of storage nutrients in the tubers highlights nutsedge as a novel model plant, having potential to significantly widen our understanding on how synthesis of storage reserves, and in particular oils, is regulated and directed in nonseed tissues such as tubers and roots.
carbon allocation; Cyperaceae; Cyperus esculentus; oil; starch; sugar; storage reserve; triacylglycerol; tuber
American Journal of Botany
2010, Volume: 97, number: 11, pages: 1884-1893 Publisher: BOTANICAL SOC AMER INC
Renewable Bioenergy Research
Food Science
Agricultural Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1000200
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/61006