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Occurrence of unstable PEP carboxylase in C 4 grasses in the genus Spartina Schreb.
Author(s) -
SMITH ALISON M.,
WOOLHOUSE HAROLD W.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/1365-3040.ep11616197
Subject(s) - spartina , pyruvate carboxylase , biology , botany , extraction (chemistry) , genus , enzyme , biochemistry , chemistry , chromatography , ecology , marsh , wetland
Abstract The aims of this work were to discover the distribution within the C 4 grass Spartina anglica of a PEP carboxylase which is very unstable during and after extraction, and to determine whether this unstable form occurs in other members of the genus. In S. anglica , only the leaf contains an unstable PEP carboxylase. Within the leaf only the major one of two isoenzymes is unstable, and this is located in the mesophyll cells. The unstable isoenzyme is inactivated during extraction and storage unless protected by bovine serum albumin or Triton X‐100, and is inactivated in assay mixtures at optimum pH in the absence of PEP. Evidence is presented that inactivation is not due to degradation or inhibition during extraction and storage. The enzyme from leaves of Spartina species taxonomically closely related to S. anglica is also very unstable during and after extraction, but that from less closely related species is much more stable.