Lipase activities in scutella of maize lines having diverse kernel lipid content.

The maize lines, Illinois High Oil, Illinois Low Oil, and their F(1) generation contained about 18%, 0.5%, and 10%, respectively, of kernel lipids, which were present mostly in the scutella. We explored to see if the activities of gluconeogenic enzymes which appeared in postgerminative growth were proportional to the lipid content in each maize line. This proportionality was found to be valid in lipase, but the two glyoxysomal enzymes, catalase and isocitrate lyase, were the same in the three maize lines irrespective of the lipid content. The results suggest a difference in the genetic control of the gluconeogenic enzymes and a co-selection for high lipid content and high lipase activity through breeding.