The deficiency of soluble proteins and plastid ribosomal RNA in the albino pollen plantlets of rice.

The components of soluble protein and ribosomal RNA in green and albino pollen plantlets of rice were studied by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results were as follows: (1) Soluble protein: the soluble proteins in green pollen plantlets may be fractionated into 15 bands of varying intensities in which the highest content and the most prominent one is band 3 (fraction I protein). Band 3, however, is nearly absent in albino pollen plantlets. (2) Ribosomal RNA (rRNA): rRNA of high molecular weight in green pollen plantlets may be fractionated into 4 bands, i.e. 25S RNA and 18S RNA in cytoplasmic ribosomes, and 23S RNA and 16S RNA in plastid ribosomes. Little or no 23S RNA and 16S RNA, however, is found in albino pollen plantlets. Together with the evidence obtained by other workers, it is suggested that albino forms of pollen plantlets is caused by the impairment of DNA.