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CROP PHYSIOLOGY & METABOLISM

Seed Size Is Associated with Sucrose Synthase Activity in Developing Cotyledons of Chickpea

^a Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, M080, The Univ. of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy., Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
^b CSIRO Plant Industry, Private Bag No. 5, Wembley, WA 6913, Australia
^c Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, The Univ. of York, Dep. of Biology, P.O. Box 373, York, UK
^d Université de Rennes 1, UMR 118 APBV INRA-Agrocampus Rennes-UR1, Campus de Beaulieu, B14A, 35 042 Rennes Cedex, France
^e The Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
^f CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Funded by CSIRO, the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture at The Univ. of Western Australia, the Grain Pool Pty. Ltd., and the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation

^* Corresponding author (ncturner{at}clima.uwa.edu.au).

Seed size, a key quality determinant in the marketing of the cool-season food legume chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), can be reduced under terminal drought. Sucrose synthase and invertase, important enzymes in sugar metabolism, play an important role in seed filling. This study aimed to determine whether these enzymes in the developing cotyledons are associated with the final seed size of chickpea by following their level of activity during seed filling in large- and small-seeded chickpea genotypes. The level of invertase in the cotyledons was unchanged during seed filling, but sucrose synthase reached a maximum about 500 to 600 growing degree days (GDD) after flowering when cell numbers were no longer increasing, but the cotyledons were increasing rapidly in dry weight. In a range of genotypes differing in seed size, the level of sucrose synthase activity in the developing cotyledons at 500 to 600 GDD was correlated with the final seed size at maturity when measured at a rainfed site in two different years. The level of activity of sucrose synthase at the same stage of development in F₂, F₃, and F₇ populations of crosses between a large-seeded cultivar and two small-seeded genotypes was also correlated with final seed size. It is concluded that sucrose synthase, but not invertase, in developing cotyledons is the key enzyme influencing seed size in chickpea.

Abbreviations: BSA, bovine serum albumin • DAF, days after flowering • DAS, days after sowing • DTT, dithiothreitol • EDTA, ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid • EGTA, (ethylene-dioxy)-diethylenedinitrilotetra-acetic acid • GDD, growing degree days • HEPES, N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethane-sulfonic acid • PVPP, insoluble polyvinylpyrrolidone • PIPES, 1,4-piperazinediethanesulfonic acid • PMSF, phenylmethane sulfonyl fluoride • QTL, quantitative trait loci • RIL, recombinant inbred line • TRICINE, N-tris(hydroxymethyl)methylglycine • UDP, uridine 5'-diphosphate