Abstract
In seed germination, expression of many genes is induced, and various transcription factors play important roles in this process. However, it is hard to detect the transcription factors in proteome analysis, because the content of these proteins in cells is known to be extremely low. To identify differentially displayed transcription factors of rice seeds during germination, 2D-PAGE analysis was carried out after prefractionation of DNA binding proteins by DNA affinity column chromatography. It was found that (i) three major DNA binding proteins (42kDa, 40kDa and 38kDa ) decreased rapidly after absorbing water in seeds, and (ii) these three proteins existed in halfseeds without embryo. Moreover, the significant decrease of three proteins in DNA binding fraction was observed when the embryoless half seeds were soaked in water. These results suggest that any factor from embryo is not required for decrease of these three proteins.
