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Articles

RNA Synthesis in Germinating Embryonic Axes of Soybean and Wheat ¹

The Institute for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111, The Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111

The rate of synthesis of RNA during early germination of wheat and soybean embryos was investigated by ascertaining the incorporation of radioactive uridine into RNA. In wheat embryos, where the lag period preceding rapid growth is 5.5 hours, there is a 2-fold increase in RNA synthesis between 1.5 and 5.5 hours, with half of the increase occurring by 3.5 hours. In soybean axes, where the lag period is 9.5 hours, the increased rate of RNA synthesis is 5.5-fold between 1.5 and 9.5 hours, with three fourths of this increase occurring after 4 hours.

Analysis of the ratio of radioactivity incorporated into the 18S and 26S rRNAs of the germinating embryos provided a further measure of the increased rates of RNA synthesis. With wheat embryos, the 26S/18S ratio increased from 1.0 at 1.5 hours to 1.5 at 3.5 hours, while with the soybean axes, distinct ribosomal patterns were obtained only after 4 hours and the 26S/18S rRNA ratio increased from 0.4 at 4 hours to 1.0 at 9 hours. The extent of methylation of the rRNA synthesized at 4 and 9 hours in the soybean axes was similar, indicating that the methylating capacity of the axes is probably not rate limiting to rRNA synthesis. In both seed embryo systems the level of UTP increased 2 to 3-fold during the lag phase of germination. With wheat embryos, the time course of the increase in UTP correlated approximately with the change in the rate of RNA synthesis. With the soybean axes, however, the increase in the rate of RNA synthesis occurred predominantly after the rise in the level of UTP.

¹ This work was supported by United States Public Health Service grants CA-06927 and RR-05539 from the National Institutes of Health; by grant PCM79-00268 from the National Science Foundation; and by an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.