Fig. 3

Variations in protein accumulation patterns in rice seeds with various ploidy levels during the filling stage. A Morphological changes between 9311-2x and 9311-4x rice seeds (harvested in 2019) from 2 to 25 days after flowering (DAF). Scale Bars: 1 mm. B Dry and fresh weights of 100 rice seeds from 3 to 25 DAF. One hundred seeds from the same part of three plants were considered one replicate. Three replicates were conducted. FW: fresh weight; DW: dry weight. Values are means ± SD. The asterisk indicates a statistically significant difference between 9311-2x and 9311-4x, as calculated by Student’s t-test (∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01). C, D Coomassie brilliant blue (CBB) staining of total SSPs in immature seeds of 9311. Each lane contains rice seeds of similar weight. M = molecular size marker. Proteins were extracted from immature seeds at 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 21, and 25 DAF. Pro-glutelin, glutelin acidic subunit, glutelin basic subunit, and prolamins (10, 13, and 16 kDa) are represented by black vertical lines. E, F Total seed protein and glutelin contents were analyzed using Image J software. Significant differences between tetraploid and diploid rice seeds were tested using independent Student’s t-test (∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01). Data are presented as means ± standard errors of three biological replicates