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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Anatomical and chemical characteristics of culm of rice brittle mutant bc7(t)

Cunxu Wei A B , Peisong Xie A , Yifang Chen C , Huaguang Yu C , Yanjing Su D , Minghong Gu B and Changjie Yan B E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.

B Key Laboratories of Crop Genetics and Physiology of the Jiangsu Province and Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.

C Testing Center, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.

D College of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.

E Corresponding author. Email: cjyan@yzu.edu.cn

Functional Plant Biology 38(3) 227-235 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP10235
Submitted: 7 December 2010  Accepted: 15 January 2011   Published: 29 March 2011

Abstract

Brittleness culm is an important agronomic trait that has a potential usefulness in agricultural activity as animal forage. In the present study, the anatomy of culm of rice (Oryza sativa L.) brittle mutant bc7(t) was investigated with light microscopy and electron microscopy. Findings showed bc7(t) exhibited higher area percentages of mechanical and conducting tissues, and lower cell wall thickness of sclerenchyma cells. Chemical analyses and 13C CP/MAS NMR spectra of cell walls indicated that the content of cellulose decreased, and the contents of hemicellulose, lignin and silicon was increased in bc7(t). Lignin histochemical staining and cytochemical localisation revealed that the higher lignin was localised in epidermal, sclerenchyma and vascular bundle cells in bc7(t). The energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis showed that the contents of silicon were higher in bc7(t) than in the wild type. These results indicate that cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, silicon and the area percentages of mechanical and conducting tissues could be regulated in a compensatory fashion, possibly contributing to metabolic flexibility and a growth advantage to sustain the bc7(t) normal growth habit like the wild-type plant.

Additional keywords: brittle culm, chemical compositions, phenotype, rice, X-ray microanalysis.


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