Developmental variation of leaf surface wax of maize, Zea mays

Abstract

The variability of both composition and amount of leaf surface wax from maize leaves (Zea mays L. cv. Oh 43) of different ages, and on different leaves along the plant, was studied by gas chromatography. In addition to visual comparisons of chromatograms, statistical analyses (ANOVA and PCA) were performed. For this cultivar, among the 25 hydrocarbons recognized, the dominant gas chromatography peak of the waxes from young leaves is 1-dotriacontanol, while wax from mature leaves consists predominantly of odd-numbered alkanes. The surface wax of leaves from intermediate-aged plants is a mixture of the seedling and mature waxes. In addition to age-related differences, consistent leaf-related developmental differences were detected. Furthermore, the amount of wax extracted per unit area increased during the first 20 days, declined rapidly until day 50, and declined gradually thereafter.