Genes involved in the accumulation of starch and lipids in wheat and rice: characterization using molecular and cytogenetic techniques

This review covers the molecular characterization of starch biosynthetic genes by the Starch group based in CSIRO, Canberra which benefitted enormously from the interactions with Prof Mukai and his group in Osaka. A number of genes involved in starch biosynthesis in wheat were isolated from the D- genome donor of wheat, Aegilops tauschii . These were usually isolated as lambda clones and therefore their location on chromosomes could only be determined with further work. This gap was filled by the cytogenetic work carried out by Prof Mukai’s group. In addition, when larger BAC clones were isolated, it was often possible by cytogenetics to visualize the organization of multiple genes and to confirm and sometimes correct conclusions from sequencing. New planned work in starch and lipid accumulation at Monash Malaysia is briefly mentioned.