The Biochemistry and Cell Biology of Embryo Storage Proteins

Seed legumes accumulate massive amounts of certain characteristic proteins. These include the 7S and US seed storage proteins, lectins and various 2S proteins. With the advent of molecular cloning techniques, a large and increasing number of primary structures of these proteins from many plants are available in the international databases. This review summarizes and compares sequences of the seed proteins presently available. To the extent that they are known, the genes which encode the proteins and mechanisms involved in their expression are summarized. Strategies involved in the assembly of the 7S and US protein oligomers are discussed, and data that relate existing storage protein to their evolutionary progenitors are described.