Deoxyribonucleic Acid, Ribonucleic Acid, Protein and Uncombined Amino Acid Content of Legume Seeds During Embryogeny

The nucleic acid, protein and uncombined amino acid contentof seeds of soya-bean (Glycine max L. Merr.), garden pea (Pisumsativum L.), kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and peanut(Arachis hypogaea L.) were measured at various times duringseed formation in an effort to understand why the soya-beanhas nearly twice as much protein as the other legume seeds.In all these species the concentration of deoxyribonucleic acid,ribonucleic acid and uncombined amino acids decreased duringseed formation. The protein level of kidney bean was relativelyconstant during development whereas the protein levels of pea,peanut and soya-bean increased during development. The proteincontent of the soya-bean increased throughout development whereasthe protein increase in peanut took place early and that inpea took place later in development. The ratio of protein toribonucleic acid was highest in peanut, less in soya-bean, andlowest in pea and kidney bean. Similarly, the ratio of proteinto deoxyribonucleic acid was higher in kidney bean than in soya-bean.Soya-beans had a lower amino acid content than any of the otherseeds at all stages of development. These results indicate thatneither total deoxyribonucleic acid, ribonucleic acid nor uncombinedamino acid content is responsible for the higher protein contentof soya-beans.