, lllinois 61 801The dominant I gene inhibits accumulation of anthocyanin pigments in epidermal cells of the soybean seed coat. We compared saline-soluble proteins extracted from developing seed coats and identified a 35-kilodalton protein that was abundant in Richland (genotype I / / , yellow) and much reduced in an isogenic mutant line T157 (genotype ili, imperfect black seed coats). We purified the 35-kilodalton protein by a nove1 procedure using chromatography on insoluble polyvinylpolypyrrolidone. The 35-kilodalton protein was composed primarily of proline, hydroxyproline, valine, tyrosine, and lysine. Three criteria (N-terminal amino acid sequence, amino acid composition, and sequence of a cDNA) proved that the seed coat 35-kilodalton protein was PRPI, a member of a proline-rich gene family expressed in hypocotyls and other soybean tissues. The levels of soluble PRPI polypeptides and PRPI mRNA were reduced in young seed coats with the recessive ili genotype. These data demonstrated an unexpected and nove1 correlation between an anthocyanin gene and the quantitative levels of a specific, developmentally regulated cell wall protein. In contrast, PRPS, a closely related cell wall protein, was synthesized later in seed coat development and was not affected by the genotype of the I locus.