Carbohydrate, Organic Acid, and Amino Acid Composition of Bacteroids and Cytosol from Soybean Nodules

Metabolites in Bradyrhizobium japonicum bacteroids and in Glycine max (L.) Merr. cytosol from root nodules were analyzed using an isolation technique which makes it possible to estimate and correct for changes in concentration which may occur during bacteroid isolation. Bacteroid and cytosol extracts were fractionated on ion-exchange columns and were analyzed for carbohydrate composition using gas-liquid chromatography and for organic acid and amino acid composition using high performance liquid chromatography. Analysis of organic acids in plant tissues as the phenacyl derivatives is reported for the first time and this approach revealed the presence of several unknown organic acids in nodules. The time required for separation of bacteroids and cytosol was varied, and significant change in concentration of individual compounds during the separation of the two fractions was estimated by calculating the regression of concentration on time. When a statistically significant slope was found, the true concentration was estimated by extrapolating the regression line to time zero. Of 78 concentration estimates made, there was a statistically significant (5% level) change in concentration during sample preparation for only five metabolites: glucose, sucrose, and succinate in the cytosol and d-pinitol and serine in bacteroids. On a mass basis, the major compounds in bacteroids were (descending order of concentration): myo-inositol, d-chiro-inositol, alpha,alpha-trehalose, sucrose, aspartate, glutamate, d-pinitol, arginine, malonate, and glucose. On a proportional basis (concentration in bacteroid as percent of concentration in bacteroid + cytosol fractions), the major compounds were: alpha-aminoadipate (94), trehalose (66), lysine (58), and arginine (46). The results indicate that metabolite concentrations in bacteroids can be reliably determined.