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Heterogeneity of Coix, maixe, and teosinte prolamins detected by isoelectric focusing

Laura M.M. Ottoboni^I; Adilson Leite^I; Maria Luiza N. Targon^I; Marcio J. da Silva^I,II; Paulo Arruda^I,II

^ICentro de Biologia Moleculare Engenharia Genética, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13081 Campinas, SP, Brasil. Send correspondence to P.A.
^IIDepartamento de Genética e Evolução, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13081 Campinas, SP, Brasil

ABSTRACT

The prolamins of maize, teosinte, and Coix strains were extracted and analysed by isoelectric focusing. Each strain analysed showed a distinct prolamin profile. The extensive charge heterogeneity observed in the Coix profiles suggests that multiple genes encode for the prolamins, as previously reported for maize and teosinte prolamins. Among the prolamin bands that characterize the maize genotypes, a group of four bands with pI between 6.55 and 6.27 and a band with pI 5.56 were found in every maize strain. Some of the teosinte strains analysed also had bands distributed in the pI range of 6.55 to 6.27. The band with pI 5.56 was observed in every teosinte strain analysed. Based on the observed homologies, it can be inferred that the isoelectric focusing profiles of the maize strains are more homologous to the profiles of teosintes than to those of Coix.

Keywords: Coix; Maize; Teosinte; Prolamins; Isoelectric focusing.

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