| Abstract: | Three pairs of near-isogenic lines with different genetic backgrounds of yellow-seeded and black-seeded rape (Brassica napus L.) were used as experiment materials to study the relationship of color formation in the seedcoat with enzyme activity and protein content in it. The results showed that with similar genetic backgrounds, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase(PPO) activities in the black-seeded lines were much higher than in their yellow-seeded counterparts and maximum PAL activity in the seedcoat occurred comparatively late while no significant difference was present in glutamine synthetase (GS) between the two types of rape. The plants were treated with red light,blue light, p-hydroxybenzoic acid (a PAL inhibitor), polyvinylpyridoxal (a PPO inhibitor),urea (a protein synthesis promoter) or chloramphenicol (CM, a plastid protein synthesis inhibitor) during seed development. It is speculated that PAL may be primarily responsible for coloration in the yellow seed; PPO may be the main factor contributing to the darkness of the testa of the black genotypes; and nitrogen assimilation is, probably, not directly related to the difference in protein content observed between yellow- and black-seeded genotypes, which may be induced mainly by PAL. |
