Genetically Controlled Electrophoretic Variants of a Storage Protein in Pisum Sativum

Abstract

A number of electrophoretic variants of plant enzymes have been described and the genetic control of these variants determined (e.g. Beckman, Scandalios, and Brewbaker 1964; Schwartz 1964; Scandalios 1965). However, little work has been done on structural and storage proteins of plants. Varietal differences have been observed in the electrophoretic patterns of wheat storage proteins (Graham and Morton 1963) and two forms of arachin, a storage protein of the peanut, have been described (Tombs 1964), though no genetic studies of these differences have been made. This communication describes the detection and the partial characterization of variants of proteins extracted from the cotyledons of Pisum sativum seeds and some preliminary breeding tests to determine their genetic control.