Genetics of seed storage proteins in the love tree Cercis siliquastrum L. (Fabaceae).

The patterns of C. siliquastrum seed storage proteins ("cercins") are described using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The polypeptides detected had very different molecular weights (ranging from 168 to 34 KDa) which, together with their high homogeneity, produced a very good resolution of bands. These proteins could be ascribed to five different loci. The analysis of seed sets of individual trees indicated that the love tree is almost completely autogamous with less than 5% of outcrosses. Although this mode of reproduction seems to produce a decrease in heterozygote frequency among the seeds of the population analysed, the levels of variability detected were very high for an autogamous plant: all of the loci were polymorphic, with a mean heterozygosity of 0.327 and a polymorphic index of 0.412. Protein segregation revealed a strong genetic linkage between three cercin loci (a, c and d) while the other two are independent.