78 



M. 8. BENJAMIN. 



A 'NOTE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF UREASE IN 

 LEGUME NODULES AND OTHER PLANT PARTS. 



By Maurice S. Benjamin, d.i.c., 



Assistant Chemist, Hawkesbury Agricultural College. 



(Communicated by Mr. F. B. Guthrie.) 



[Bead before the Royal Society of N. 8. Wales, June 2, 1915.] 



A series of tests undertaken with the view of seeing 

 whether the occurrence of an urea splitting enzyme in 

 legume nodules was universal or not, has resulted in the 

 detection of its presence in nodules of the following plants: 

 Trifoliurn minus, Relhan. Trifolium agrarium, L. 



Pisum arvense, L. (Field Pea)] Vicia sativa, L. 

 Glycine clandestma, Wendl. Acacia falcata, Willd. (a Wattle) 



Acacia suaveolens, Lindl. (a Acacia lunata, Sieb. (a Wattle) 



Sydney Wattle). Acacia juniper ina, Willd. 



Acacia decurr ens, Willd. (a Wattle) Aotus villosa, Sm. 

 Vicia desciacarpus. Daviesia genisti folia, A. Cunn. 



Lathyrus latifolius, L. Acacia pumila, Maiden. (a Wattle) 



Cytisus proliferus, L. fil. Acacia linearis, Sims, (a Wattle) 



(Tree Lucerne) 



I was unable to detect the enzyme in nodules of the 

 following plants: 



Medicago sativa, L. Medicago denticulata, Willd. 



(Lucerne) (Clover Burr) 



Medicago maculata, Willd. Trifolium repens, L. 



(Spotted Medick) (White Clover) 



The inquiry was then extended to seeds and other parts 

 of plants. Among a number of seeds examined, seeds of 

 the following plants gave a reaction for the presence of 

 the enzyme. 



