High-lipid oat is a potential oil crop. Chemical and microscopical analyses have shown that the major part of the grain lipids are stored in the endosperm. While oil bodies are intact in the aleurone layer, scutellum and embryo, they have less associated proteins (oleosins) and undergo fusion in the starchy endosperm. In this report, we document the distribution of lipids in the endosperm microscopically. Underneath the aleurone layer, lipids are most abundant in the subaleurone cells and in the endosperm cells in the vicinity of the scutellum and embryo. Thus the major areas of oil storage are close to the living tissues of the grain, the sites of enzyme production in connection with germination and mobilization. The documentation of cellular structural changes, and implication of the fused state of oil bodies, during germination, remains to be elucidated.
Keywords: aleurone; embryo; endosperm; oat; oil; scutellum.