Castor, a key agricultural crop has long been studied at the morphological level for understanding its behaviour.Researchers have deepened their approach and made an attempt to implicate the phenotypic, germination phenomenon in castor with the molecular level of proteins.During germination, the energy reserves are mobilized from endosperm to emerging plant organs which appears to be regulated by catalysis.Scientists from University of California have identified two important proteolytic enzymes called them as aminopeptidases from castor bean endosperm after an experimental confirmation in their activity against synthetic substrates.They even found the enzymes’ functional activity under physiological conditions was at the peak during the initial phase of germination and completely vanished during endosperm senescence.The study was so robust which permitted the researchers to further identify other classes of proteases associated with castor seed germination but they showed an inverse relation with previous members in terms of their temporal presence.

Results of this study clearly indicate that proteases play a vital role in castor seed germination as we normally observe with plant seed germination and a comprehensive profiling of proteases would enable biologists to exploit them as candidate markers for the selection of seeds with effective germination and productive stand in the field.

For reference: http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/62/5/746.full.pdf