Protein bodies ontogeny and localization of prolamin components in the developing endosperm of wheat caryopses

During caryopsis development, prolamins are initially stored in individual protein bodies, then generate a protein matrix in the ripe caryopsis. The ontogeny of the protein bodies was analyzed by fluorescence and electron microscopy from 7 to 43 days after anthesis (dAA), a period of time from the cellularization of endosperm to its desiccation. A series of antibodies specific to each prolamin type (α/β-, γ-, ω-gliadins, low-molecular weight and high-molecular weight glutenin subunits) made it possible to localize and co-localize the different prolamins in organelles of endosperm cells at different developmental stages. Protein bodies containing prolamins were observed as early as 7 dAA. At the early developmental stages, protein bodies were spherical with diameters around 1–2 μm. Later, around 15 dAA, the PBs enlarged, and aggregation and/or coalescence were prominent at 21 dAA. From 33 dAA, individual PBs were no longer visible, but a protein matrix was confined in the space between starch granules. All prolamins were found in the same protein bodies, without any segregation according to their types. Immunochemical labelling of prolamins failed to reveal in TEM analyses any particular internal organization in protein bodies. Glutenin subunits and gliadins were observed in the Golgi apparatus at the early stages of endosperm development.