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Articles

Regulation of the Accumulation of mRNA for -Amylase in Barley Aleurone ¹

Department of Botany, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720

The effect of gibberellic acid and Ca²⁺ on the accumulation of -amylase mRNAs in aleurone layers of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Himalaya) was studied using cDNA clones containing sequences of mRNAs for the high and low isoelectric point (pI) -amylases. There is no significant hybridization between the two -amylase cDNA clones under the hybridization and washing conditions employed. These clones were therefore used to monitor levels of mRNAs for high and low pI -amylases. It is shown that although the synthesis of the high pI -amylase proteins depends on the presence of Ca²⁺ in the incubation medium, the accumulation of mRNA for this group occurs to the same degree in the presence or the absence of Ca²⁺. The accumulation of low pI -amylase mRNA is also not affected by the presence or absence of Ca²⁺ in the incubation medium. These results establish gibberellic acid, not Ca²⁺, as the principal regulator of -amylase mRNA accumulation in barley aleurone, while Ca²⁺ controls high pI -amylase synthesis at a later step in the biosynthetic pathway.

¹ Supported by grants from the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.