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Biochemical characterization of anthers from male-sterile coffee plants

Paulo Mazzafera

Departamento de Fisiologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, Caixa Postal 6109, 13081 Campinas, SP, Brasil

ABSTRACT

Two male-sterile coffee trees of Coffea arabica, an accession from Ethiopia, C2154-2 and the cultivar Blumor (Blue Mountain x Timor Hybrid), C2018-8, as well as a fertile variety belonging to the same species, were submitted to daily harvesting of flower anthers for a period of five days before flowering. On the sixth day, when blossoming occurred, the anthers were harvested four times from each coffee plant.
On the basis of estimates of soluble carbohydrate, sucrose, protein and free amino acid contents in the anthers, it was concluded that the metabolic activities of the anthers obtained from the fertile plant were substantially higher than those of the anthers from the male-sterile accessions. The amino acid composition estimated for the material collected three days before flowering varied appreciably from that detected in the material from the first harvesting on the sixth day. In this respect, by flowering time serine was found to have accumulated to the greatest extent in the fertile variety and in the male-sterile C2154-2, and to have decreased in C2018-8. In addition, serine was found to be the amino acid that always accumulated to the largest extent in the anthers, regardless of the coffee plant variety. Proline accumulation followed the same pattern and was second to serine in terms of amount accumulated, also decreasing drastically in C2018-8 at flowering time. A similar behavior was observed for glutamic acid and ammonium nitrogen.

Keywords: Biochemical characterization; Anthers; Coffee plants.

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