Gene dosage effect on starch structure studied using maize polygenic model containing ae and su1 mutant alleles

The aim of this work was to enhance our understanding on the gene dosage effect on starch structure. Two mutant alleles, ae and su1, were selected for this study. With regard to their genetic functions, ae and su1 mutations are at two opposite extremes; therefore ae and su1 constituted an ideal pair of mutant alleles for manipulating starch structures. A full set of dosage combinations of ae and su1 were constructed in the maize W64A inbred line, and matured kernels were subjected to starch structure analysis. Scanning electron microscopy showed that starch granule morphology was affected by high doses of ae and su1 alleles. X-ray powder diffraction showed that 3 doses of su1 were not able to change the crystalline pattern of starch, whereas 3 doses of ae transformed A-type pattern to B-type. Size-exclusion chromatography showed that homozygous ae, su1, and ae su1 led to drastic change of starch structure from that of non-mutant. In addition, starches from certain ae and su1 dosage combinations were different from those of homozygous genotypes. This study will lay further foundation towards genetic modification of starch for desirable functional properties in food.