Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012
**Present address: College of Agriculture, Dharwar-580 005.
*A portion of the doctoral Thesis submitted to the Post-Graduate School, I. A.R.I., New Delhi.
The changes in the levels of nucleic acids and protein were followed during the course of development and cold storage (0.1°C and 85–95 per cent RH) of Pusa Seedless grape. The DNA and RNA contents of the berry rose in the early part of the berry development. Thereafter, the former remained more or less constant but the latter showed a decline. The soluble protein content of berry showed a marginal decline in the beginning but gradually increased later on, reaching a maximum value after 8 weeks following anthesis. A higher ratio of soluble to insoluble protein was observed to be associated with the termination of the lag phase of berry development. The behaviour of nucleic acids and protein during storage was not clear. Both showed a tendency to maintain a high level. In general, the role of nucleic acids and proteins in the development of grape berry was not clear.
