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Sucrose metabolism during endosperm development in wheat ( Triticum aestivum )
Author(s) -
Riffkin H. L.,
Duffus C. M.,
Bridges I. C.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-3054.1995.930118.x
Subject(s) - endosperm , invertase , sucrose , sucrose synthase , fructose , biochemistry , metabolism , catabolism , carbohydrate metabolism , carbohydrate , chemistry , sucrose phosphate synthase , biology
This work reports changes in sucrose synthase and invertase activities throughout endosperm development in wheat, together with the associated substrates and metabolites, sucrose, UDP, glucose, fructose and UDP‐glucose. Throughout endosperm development, sucrose synthase had consistently higher activity than invertase and indeed invertase activity did not change appreciably. The observed variation in pattern and amounts of glucose and fructose present during the mid‐ and late stages of endosperm development confirmed the suggestion that invertase was not the preferred pathway of sucrose catabolism. Kinetic parameters for sucrose synthase were determined in crude extracts. Estimates of UDP and sucrose concentrations suggest that sucrose synthase is unlikely to achieve its potential maximum velocity. This limitation may however be overcome in part by the apparent excess catalytic activity measured during endosperm development.