DETERMINACIÓN DE INDICADORES GENÉTICOS Y MOLECULARES DE LA APTITUD GERMINATIVA DE SEMILLAS DE MAÍZ

Abstract

The aging of the seeds is product of a series of not regulated degenerative events that are pronounced at diverse levels: molecular, biochemical and physiological, which decrease the seminal quality and culminate with the loss of their viability. The objective of the present study was to identify proteins of the cellular cycle that served like biochemical markers in response to extreme conditions of temperature and humidity to which the seeds were exposed and to correlate this behavior with physiological datas. 3 different genotypes from maize were used and two types of artificial aging were applied: Dry heat (60°C, 48 h) and humid heat (41°C, 100% HR, 72 h). The damage caused by the deterioration took to an accumulation differential of proteins of the cellular cycle, according to the genotype of the seed and the applied treatment. By the previous thing, it is deduced that the effects caused by the artificial aging are consistent and reliable for biochemical and molecular studies on the longevity of seeds, apart from which its intensity is determined by the genotype of the same. The markers associated to the vigor and/or the tolerance to the natural or artificial aging of the seeds, derivatives of the scrutiny of the cellular cycle, could be used in the official programs of genetic maize improvement, to form varieties of excellent characteristics, in this case to exhibit majors longevity and vigor levels, fundamental elements for their handling in the germplasm banks.