The metabolism of allantoin by immature cotyledons of soybean (Glycine max L. cv Elf) grown in culture was investigated using solid state 13C and '5N nuclear magnetic resonance. All of the nitrogens of allantoin were incorporated into protein in a manner similar to that of each other and to the amide nitrogen of glutamine. The C-2 of allantoin was not incorporated into cellular material; presumably it was lost as CO2. About 50% of the C-5 of allantoin was incorporated into cellular material as a methylene carbon; the other 50% was presumably also lost as CO2. The 13C-'5N bonds of 15-'3C;1-'5N1 and 12-'3C;1,3-'5Nlallantoin were broken prior to the incorporation of the nitrogens into protein. These data are consistent with allantoin's degradation to two molecules of urea and one two-carbon fragment. Cotyledons grown on allantoin as a source of nitrogen accumulated 21% of the nitrogen of cotyledons grown on glutamine. Only 50% of the nitrogen of the degraded allantoin was incorporated into the cotyledon as organic nitrogen; the other 50% was recovered as NI-L in the media in which the cotyledons had been grown. The latter results suggests that the lower accumulation of nitrogen by cotyledons grown on allantoin was in part due to failure to assimilate NH4W produced from allantoin. The seed coats had a higher activity of glutamine synthetase and a higher rate of allantoin degradation than cotyledons indicating that seed coats play an important role in the assimilation and degradation of allantoin.
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