Isolation of Indole-3-ethanol Oxidase from Cucumber Seedlings

Previous work in this laboratory has shown that cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings contain large amounts, relative to other indolic compounds, of extractable indole-3-ethanol (IEt); tracer studies have established that IEt is metabolized to IAA. We have now succeeded in isolating an enzyme from these seedlings which catalyzes the oxidation of IEt to indole-3-acetaldehyde (IAAld). The identification of the product as IAAld was based on solvent partitioning of the free aldehyde and its bisulfite adduct and radiochromatography following incubation of enzyme with (14)C-IEt. A novel, quantitative colorimetric test for IAAld was also developed utilizing the Salkowski reagent. Partial purification of the enzyme was achieved by salt gradient chromatography on Bio-Rex 70, heating the preparation to 70 C, and chromatography on Sephadex G-150. This purification procedure yielded an enzyme activity purified in excess of 3000-fold, and studies on a standardized Sephadex column suggest a molecular weight of the enzyme of approximately 105,000. The reaction was found to proceed only aerobically; and, in the absence of other electron acceptors, O(2) appears to be reduced to H(2)O(2). The enzyme has nearly maximum activity from pH 8 to 11.