Flavonoids are secondary metabolites that have significant roles in plant defense and human nutrition. Glucosyltransferases (GTs) transfer sugars from high energy sugar donors to other substrates. Several different kinds of flavonoid GTs exist in the tissues of grapefruit making it a model plant for studying their structure and function. The goal of this investigation is to determine the expression patterns of 7 putative secondary product GTs during grapefruit growth and development by quantifying mRNA expression levels in the roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. This research was designed to test the hypothesis that these 7 GT's are expressed constitutively. Alternatively, one or more could be expressed in a tissue-specific manner and/or developmentally regulated. Six growth stages were defined. Findings show that there were variable degrees of PGT expression. Therefore, results were more consistent with the alternative hypothesis that putative secondary product GT expression was tissue specific and/or developmentally regulated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-3146 |
| Date | 09 May 2009 |
| Creators | Daniel, Jala |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright by the authors. |
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