[Synthesis and degradation of the peanut storage proteins during seed development and germination]

Three polypeptides, 41 kD and 38.5 kD subunits of arachin and 60.5 kD subunit of conarachin in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L. Shanyou 523) seeds were purified by gel filtration and SDS-PAGE. Polyclonal antibodies against these subunits were raised in mice. Western blot showed that the subunits appeared in axes and cotyledons at the tissue differentiation stage. The 60.5 kD subunit was firstly synthesized and accumulated in considerable quantity in axes and cotyledons, and then the 41 kD and 38.5 kD subunits increased during the development of peanut embryos. The degradation patterns of these three subunits were different during the germination of peanut seeds. The 41 kD and 38.5 kD subunits in the axes and cotyledons were degraded earlier than the 60.5 kD subunit.