Comparison of wild type and mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana offers an opportunity to study the genetic control of nutrient storage in seeds. We used energy dispersive X-ray analysis to determine the elements present and their relative amounts in globoids of dry wild-type seeds, as well as seeds of a reduced total P uptake mutant (pho1), a phosphate accumulator (pho2), and a metal accumulator (man1). Globoids are spherical inclusions, rich in phytate that function as a store for inositol, P, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, and Zn. Key findings of this study were the following: (i) globoids in protein bodies from nine different tissues and (or) organs in dry Arabidopsis thaliana seeds contained P, K, Mg, and Ca, and sometimes traces of Fe and Zn; (ii) globoids contained higher Ca and lower Mg amounts than occur in globoids in seeds of most other plant species; (iii) globoids in comparable tissue and (or) organ regions of seeds were very similar in elemental composition for wild type and all mutant plants.Key words: Arabidopsis, dry seeds, phytate, mineral nutrient mutants, phosphorus, globoids.
1,135 ionomes reveals the global pattern of leaf and seed mineral nutrient and trace element diversity in
Arabidopsis thaliana