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Studies of Sugars and Sorbitol in Developing Corn Kernels ¹

Department of Horticulture, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801-4777

Sugars and sorbitol were determined on corn (Zea mays L.) kernels harvested at various developmental stages, using sugary (su), sugary-sugary enhancer (su se), and starchy (Su) cultivars. In all cultivars tested, the sorbitol content increased from trace amounts in unpollinated ovules to a maximum at about the time that rapid starch synthesis was proceeding. Thereafter, sorbitol and sugars decreased continuously to the mature dry stage. Sorbitol in the su se kernels was higher than that of other cultivars from 28 days postpollination onwards; sucrose and maltose were higher from 21 days onwards. [¹⁴C]Sorbitol was recovered from kernel base, pedicel, and endosperm of IL677a (su se) kernels after allowing a flag leaf to fix ¹⁴CO₂ photosynthetically. No [¹⁴C]sorbitol was detected in the shank of the ear, and none was detected by the gas chromatograph. [¹⁴C]Sucrose was the predominant labeled substance recovered from the kernel base, pedicel, and endosperm tissues during the 10-h chase period, as well as from the shank of the ear, and nonradioactive sucrose was the predominant ethanol-soluble compound detected by the gas chromatograph. Hence, sorbitol appears not to be translocated from corn leaves as it is in certain woody plants of the rose family. The altered sugar profile of su se kernels may be related to reduced starch synthesis, but the biochemical mechanism is not yet known.

¹ Supported by National Science Foundation grant PCM 7922686. This study was a part of Project No. 65330 (NE 124) of the Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Agriculture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. J. Shaw was the holder of a Hackett graduate fellowship awarded by the University of Illinois College of Agriculture.

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