The Development of Bean Seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

Abstract

The development of bean seeds from eleven days past flowering to maturity is described in biochemical terms on an organ and cell basis. Three weeks after flowering, when cell divisions had ceased in the cotyledons, the dry weight, N and P content of the seeds were only 1/6 those finally reached. In the next two weeks the seeds made their greatest growth; six weeks after flowering all growth was complete. The rate of oxygen uptake paralleled the growth rate. A comparison of growing plant cells of various origins indicated that despite differences in their weights and contents, their rates of oxygen uptake were comparable.