Phosphorus Compounds of Cotton Embryos and Their Changes during Germination.

The phosphorus compoundsofcottonembryos, particularly ribonucleic (RNA)anddeoxyribonucleic (DNA) acid, andtheir metabolism during germina- tionhavenotbeenintensively investigated withmod- ernmethods ofanalysis. Intheperiod 1913to1918 Anderson(1)andRather(9)elucidated thetrue natureofphytic acid, theprincipal formofseed phosphorus. Although Anderson obtained thehexa- phosphate ofinositol, Ratherfoundonlythepenta- phosphoric acidderivative cluetotheactivity ofthe enzymephytase. In 1946Fontaine andco-workers (5)presented results showing anincrease intheper- centage ofphosphorus intheinorganic formduring germination. Ponsetal(8)developed ananalytical systemforanalysis ofthephosplhorus fractions of plantmaterials andin1953reported dataon the phytin-, inorganic-, lipid-, ester-, anclnucleic acid-P contents ofcotton embryos. Morerecently Ergle and Eaton(3)reported ontheamountsofsimilar frac- tions, plusprotein-P, invarious cotton tissues includ- ing10-clay-old ovules andl matureembryos. Inthepresent paperinformation onthephosphorus compoundls ofcottonembryos hasbeenextended to include RNA andDNA andthechanges whichthey andtheabovementioned phosphorus fractions under- goduriing germination andearly seedling development. Results on Paymaster 54B,Deltapine TPSA,and Mesilla Valley Acala, representative ofearly, inter- mediate, andlatematuring cottons, respectively, are compared.