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Use of Tassel‐Seed ( Ts ‐5) Maize for Assimilate Transport Studies Using Intact or Detached Tassel Branches
Author(s) -
Thomas Paul A.,
Felker Frederick C.,
Shan Jack C.,
Crawford C. Gerald
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1993.0011183x003300020022x
Subject(s) - tassel , pedicel , biology , zea mays , botany , apoplast , epidermis (zoology) , horticulture , agronomy , anatomy , cell wall
The anatomy of normal maize ( Zea mays L.) ears precludes easy access to the kernel pedicel tissue for in vivo assimilate transport experiments. We investigated the possibility of using the Tassel‐seed ( Ts ‐5) mutant of maize as a model system for studies of assimilate movement into developing maize kernels. Hypodermic needles (26 gauge, 9.5 mm long) inserted under the pedicel epidermis of intact plants were used to introduce solutes into the pedicel free space. Additionally, excised tassel branches were incubated in buffered solutions containing 100 m M 14 C.labeled sugars. The movement of apoplastic and symplastic fluorescent dyes as well as 14 C‐iabeled assimilates and incubation solutions showed that Ts ‐5 maize provides a useful experimental system for study of the mechanism of assimilate transport into developing kernels.