Scanning Electron Microscopic Observation on Chalkiness of Rice Mutant OsLHT1 Grains

Grain chalkiness greatly affects the grain appearance，milling，eating，cooking，and nutritional qualities，so it is one of the most important traits of grain qualities. To study the relationship between chalkiness of mutant of rice OsLHT1 gene and the shape, structure and arrangement of endosperm cells and starch grains, the chalkiness rate, chalkiness degree and chalkiness area of the mutant of rice OsLHT1 gene were investigated by field experiment, and the morphological structure of rice endosperm cells and starch grains were also observed by scanning electron microscope. Our results showed that the grain chalkiness character with the greatest difference between the tested mutant of OsLHT1 gene and the wild japonica rice variety Zhonghua 11 is chalkiness degree, followed by chalkiness rate, and finally chalkiness area, and there is a significant correlation between chalkiness rate and chalkiness degree. Therefore, there is a close correlation between the arrangement of endosperm cells, the distribution of starch grains and the occurrence of grain chalkiness in the mutant of OsLHT1 gene in japonica rice.