Isozymes as Markers for Embryogenic Maize Callus

Abstract

The search for markers of plant embryogenesis is an important aspect of modern plant breeding and isozyme analysis remains a powerful tool to register cyto-differentiation in plants. The use of in situ cytochemical techniques to study the proteins which are expressed during embryogenesis has been underestimated so far. This chapter, mainly based on our earlier work (Fransz et al. 1989a,b), emphasizes the possibilities and applications of combined biochemical and cytochemical studies. Besides giving a survey of the literature about isozymes as biochemical markers during embryogenesis, especially for maize, it accentuates the use of cytochemical techniques to study the in situ expression of these isozymes.