The changes in major nitrogenous components during the germination of pea seeds have been followed. During the period of rapid axis growth, 3 to 8 days following germination, the nitrogen content of the cotyledons declines rapidly with an accompanying increase of nitrogen in the developing axis. The accumulation of alcohol soluble nitrogen, primarily amino nitrogen, in the cotyledons and axis during germination indicates that the mobilization of nitrogen is facilitated by proteolysis and translocation of the products.Pea cotyledons had an initially high RNA content which declined during germination while axis RNA increased. The increase in axis RNA was greater than the decline in cotyledonary RNA indicating a net nucleic acid synthesis. Thus some of initial nitrogen reserve is interconverted to provide for nucleic acid synthesis.During the depletion of cotyledonary RNA there was no accumulation of nucleotides in the cotyledons, nucleotide content of the axis did, however, increase during the germination period.The DNA content of the axis increased with growth of that organ. There was also an increase in DNA content of the cotyledons during the early stages of germination.
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