Abstract:Esterase isozyme patterns in the embryos of dry seeds of 114 combinations of steriles, maintainers, restorers and their F1 hybrids were analyzed with acrylamide gel eleetrophoresis. Usually six major bands were found and named 1A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A and 7A. The isoesterase zymograms in three lines--sterile, maintainer and restorer were diffcrent. There were seven types of zymograms in F1 hybrids. The eomplementary bands were shown in F1 hybrids when sterile with 6A band and restorer with 3A or 5A band were used as parents. F1 hybrids with 3A and 6A complementary each other were more vigorous in vegetative growth and only those 5A and 6A complemontary each other displayed economic superiority. It was shown that the pattern of esterase zymograms of F1 hybrids was influenced by both cytoplasm and nucleus of their parents. It was concluded that esterase isozyme patterns could be used as one of the biochemical markers for the predicting hybrid vigor in heterosis breeding.