Polyamines in soybeans

Putrescine, spermidine, and spermine were three main polyamines isolated from soybeans and partially characterized. Occurrence of polyamines in soybeans was established by separating trichloroacetic acid extracts of soybeans by cationic exchange column chromatography, identification with thin layer chromatography, paper electrophoresis, mass spectral analysis, reactions with ninhydrin and Dragendorff reagents, and spectrophotometric characteristics. Soybeans contained a minimum of 29.0 micrograms of polyamines per gram of full-fat flour. The alcohol-soluble fraction of soybeans contained polyamines also. Resting seeds contained spermidine in higher concentration than either putrescine or spermine. Spermine appeared to be present in lowest concentration. Preliminary experiments suggested that some polyamines were possibly in bound forms.     

Acquisition of desiccation tolerance in soybeans

The entry into a desiccation-tolerant state is a major developmental component of seed maturation. Development of desiccation tolerance of embryonic axes of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill cv. Chippewa 64] was studied by measuring changes in electrolyte leakage. germination and relative growth rate after axes were rapidly air-dried to various water contents. Axes acquired the full capacity for germination at 34 days after flowering (DAF). and reached physiological maturity (maximum dry weight) at 48 DAF. When dried to water content h = 0. 08 (g water g⁻¹ dry weight). few axes germinated before 42 DAF. but more than 90% germinated after 48 DAF. However, electrolyte leakage of rehydrated axes showed a linear decline from 30 to 55 DAF. For developing axes there was a critical water content or desiccation threshold. which could be estimated by using the electrolyte leakage method. The threshold of desiccation tolerance decreased gradually from h = 1. 10 to 0. 18 as axes matured from 28 to 55 DAF. The development of desiccation tolerance continued after physiological maturity at 48 DAF. We conclude that the acquisition of desiccation tolerance of soybean axes is a gradual event, rather than an abrupt transition.     

Light effects in mycorrhizal soybeans

Soybean (Glycine max. L. Merr.) plants were grown in an experiment with a 3 × 3 factorial design using different levels of light (170, 350, and 700 μE·m⁻²·s⁻¹) and P as factors. Plants were grown in a greenhouse in pot cultures using a soil low in plant-available P under three P regimes: no additional P, P added as KH₂PO₄, or P uptake enhanced by colonization of the host plant with the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungus Glomus fasciculatum (Thaxt. sensu Gerd.) Gerd. and Trappe. Development of the VAM fungal endophyte and of plants under all three P regimes was depressed by limiting light. However, the growth response of VAM plants to increasing light relative to non-VAM plants in the absence of additional P increased while the response relative to non-VAM plants with additional P decreased slightly. The highly significant interaction between the factors (P < 0.001) of the experiment was due to differences in the magnitude and direction of simple effects of the factors. The implications of these differences in terms of source-sink relationships of the symbionts and the value of different non-VAM controls in interpreting VAM effects are discussed.     

An unstable locus in soybeans

Summary Investigation of a variegated condition in the soybean variety Lincoln indicates instability at the Y locus. Leaf sectors of chlorophyll-less yellow tissue occur in distinct heritable patterns; some leaves have small flecks of yellow tissue (late occurring mutations) and others possess large areas or whole leaflets (early occurring mutations).There is evidence that this allele, Y ₁₈ ^m , mutates to the wild type, Y, which is green and stable and to the recessive, y, which is yellow and lethal in the seedling condition. (With an increase in the amount of yellow tissue there is an increase in the frequency of lethals.) However, changes from one type to the other are observed, and patterns of variegation representing different states of the instability are described. These depend upon the time and frequency of mutation events.Evidence is presented to support the hypothesis that this instability is controlled by a factor that resides at the locus. Such a factor governs the timing of the mutation events and is related to similar elements in maize, which are part of specific mutable systems. Control of variegation of the Y ₁₈ ^m locus is compared with the models proposed for the cases of instability in maize.

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Zusammenfassung Die Untersuchung eines variegaten Zustandes bei der Sojabohnensorte Lincoln führte zum Nachweis einer Instabilität des Y-Locus. Blattsektoren mit chlorophyllfreiem gelbem Gewebe traten in bestimmten erblichen Mustern auf. Einige Blätter wiesen kleine Flecken gelben Gewebes auf (spät eingetretene Mutationen), während andere große Flächen oder vollständig gelbe Blättchen besaßen (früh eingetretene Mutationen).Es gibt Beweise dafür, daß das entsprechende Allel Y ₁₈ ^m sowohl zum stabilen Wildtypallel Y, mit grünem Phänotyp, als auch zum rezessiv gelben y, das im Sämlingsstadium letal wirkt, mutiert. (Eine Zunahme der Menge gelben Gewebes ist mit einer Zunahme der Letalfrequenz verbunden.) Umwandlungen eines Typs zu einem anderen werden beobachtet und Variegationsmuster beschrieben, die unterschiedliche Stadien der Instabilität verkörpern. Diese hängen von dem Zeitpunkt und der Frequenz der Mutationsereignisse ab.Es werden Beweise vorgelegt, die die Hypothese stützen, daß diese Instabilität durch einen Faktor kontrolliert wird, der sich am Locus befindet. Ein Faktor dieser Art kontrolliert das zeitliche Auftreten der Mutationsereignisse. Er ist mit ähnlichen Elementen des Maises verwandt, die Teile eines spezifisch mutablen Systems sind. Die Kontrolle der Variegation durch den Y ₁₈ ^m -Locus wird mit den Modellen verglichen, die für die Fälle der Instabilität beim Mais vorgeschlagen wurden.

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Joint contribution from the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa (Projects 1335 und 1179) as Journal Paper No. 5635.

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Former Agronomist, Crops Research Division, ARS, USDA, and Professor Iowa State University; now Research Director, Peterson Seed Company.     

Dinitrogen fixation in male-sterile soybeans

Partial male-sterile (ms₄/ms₄) soybeans (Glycine max L. Merr.) and their fertile isoline (Ms₄/Ms₄) were grown in adjoining field plots. From 62 until 92 days after emergence, the nitrogenase activity, assayed by acetylene reduction, of the average male-sterile plant was approximately twice that of the average fertile plant. At approximately 100 days after emergence, the assayable nitrogenase activity of the fertile plants fell to zero, whereas the nitrogenase of the partial male-sterile plants continued to be active for two additional weeks. Thus, this male-sterile plant seems to fix dinitrogen both at a higher rate and over a longer duration than does its fertile isoline.     

Drought tolerance processes in soybeans

Fifteen soybean cultivars were evaluated in two water supply conditions, inducing or not a drought stress. Main canopy traits were measured several times during the reproductive period and, at maturity date, the yield components were estimated. Using principal components analysis, the main physiological functions involved in soybean drought tolerance are described: leaf cells enlargement and assimilates transport. These processes could be a good basis on which to define new selection criteria for soybean drought tolerance.     

Bacillus fermentation of soybeans

Kinema fermentations of Indian and Canadian No. 1 soybeans by Bacillus sp. DK-W1 and by mixed cultures of Bacillus sp. DK-W1 and Enterococcus faecium DK-C1 were essentially identical. The viable cell count of Bacillus increased from an initial 10⁵ to 10¹⁰ c.f.u./g wet wt after 48 h incubation at 37°C. The pH of the fermentation dropped from an initial 6.9 to about 6.4 after 8 h and then rose to 8.6 after 32 h, with a coincident increase in proteolytic activity and ammonia concentration. The fermentations containing E. faecium and Bacillus exhibited a greater initial pH decline and a slightly retarded subseqent increase in pH compared with fermentations with Bacillus only. The presence of E. faecium had no detectable effects on growth of the Bacillus, proteolytic activity, ammonia production or the final pH of the fermentations.P.K. Sarkar was and P.E. Cook and J.D. Owens are with the Food Microbial Interactions Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Reading, Reading RG6 2AP, UK; P.K. Sarkar is now with the Microbiology Laboratory, Centre for Life Sciences, University of North Bengal, Siliguri 734430, India.     

Pectic and cellulolytic enzymes in soybeans

The dominant cell wall degrading enzymes detected in extracts from 6-day-old, dark grown, Lee soybean seedlings carried out random (endo) and hydrolytic cleavages of pectic acid, pectin and methylcellulose. The pH optima of these activities were 6·0, 6·5 and 5·7 respectively. Monogalacturonic acid and another unidentified product accumulated during the degradation of polygalacturonic acid.     

Patterns of urease synthesis in developing soybeans

An examination of in vivo polysome-bound activity indicates that soybean (Glycine max, cv. Prize) seed urease is synthesized on large polysomes (n ≥ 15). In vitro urease synthesis is directed by a large RNA (3,000-3,300 nucleotides). Urease synthesis occurs throughout the normal protein biosynthetic phase of the developing seed. Surprisingly, the activity/antigen ratios of urease increase throughout development. Urease appears to be in a more highly polymerized state in mature beans versus beans in early development.     

Magnesium uptake by soybeans

Magnesium contents of soybean (Glycine max) roots increase and the K and Ca contents decrease with increased MgCl₂ concentrations in ambient solutions. The Mg uptake is inhibited when both Ca and K are present in the solution, but not by K or Ca alone. Chloride uptake, which is very low from the MgCl₂ solution, is greatly enhanced by the presence of K. The selectivity against Mg imparted by K + Ca appears to be at an external barrier for cation uptake as shown by its dependence on the presence of Ca in the external solution. The Ca content of roots is influenced only slightly by changes in external Ca concentrations from 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻²m, but that of shoots is greatly enhanced as the Ca concentration is increased or the K concentration is decreased. These effects on Ca contents are explained as arising from transport to the shoot without involvement of vacuoles of root cells.     

Enzymic degradation of allantoate in developing soybeans

A Mn²⁺-dependent enzymic breakdown of allantoate has been detected in crude and partially purified extracts of developing soybeans. The products detected were CO₂, NH₃, glyoxylate, labile glyoxylate derivatives, and low levels of urea. Urea is initially produced at less than 10% the rate of urease-independent CO₂ release indicating that the activity is not allantoate amidinohydrolase (i.e. urea is not directly cleaved off allantoate). The urease-independent CO₂ releasing activity has an apparent K_m of 1.0 millimolar for allantoate. Ethylenediaminetetraacetate, borate, and acetohydroxamate (all at 10 millimolar) inhibit the enzymic production of NH₃, CO₂, and labile glyoxylate derivatives from allantoate. However, the potent urease inhibitor, phenyl phosphordiamidate does not inhibit CO₂ and NH₃ release indicating that the action of acetohydroxamate is not due to its inhibition of urease. That the allantoatedegrading activity was more than 5-fold greater in seed coats than in embryos is consistent with the data of Rainbird et al. (Plant Physiol 1984 74: 329-334) which indicate that available ureides are metabolized before reaching the embryo. 2-Ethanolthio, 2′ureido, acetic acid (NH₂COHNCHCO₂HSCH₂CH₂OH), the first allantoate-derived product detected by HPLC analysis, is an addition produced of mercaptoethanol with an unidentified enzymically produced ureido intermediate that is not derived from ureidoglycolate or oxalurate.     

Studies on the behavior of the senescence signal in anoka soybeans

Soybean, a monocarpic plant, has been found to undergo rapid senescence as its fruits mature. In soybeans (Glycine max[L.] Merrill) cv. Anoka, foliar senescence begins during the period of most rapid pod-fill (seed growth), and it can be eliminated by surgical removal of the seeds at an early stage of their growth. Experiments in which fruits are removed from some regions of the plant but allowed to remain on other regions have established that the transmission of the senescence signal is limited; it affects mainly those leaves nearest to the nodes bearing the fruits. The implications of this localized signal movement are discussed.     

Evidence for the existence of an intracellular root-lectin in soybeans

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) root lectin, identified as extractable agglutination activity, was shown to reappear following 15-h incubations of roots that had previously been stripped of all extractable lectin activity. Additional lectin activity was released following disruption of the root tissues and cellular fractionation. These lectin activities were shown to have binding specificity an antibody cross-ractivity similar to soybean seed and root lectins previously described. Thus, it is possible that this intracellular lectin represents the source of extracellular root lectins.