Colorimetric method for the determination of lipoxygenase activity.

A colorimetic assay for lipoxygenase activity has been developed. The assay is based on the detection of the lipoxygenase reaction product, linoleic acid hydroperoxide, by the oxidative coupling of 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone (MBTH) with 3-(dimethylamino)benzoic acid (DMAB) in a hemoglobin-catalyzed reaction. This test reaction is rapid and sensitive, and it offers advantages over other methods for detecting lipoxygenase activity. The assay is capable of detecting activity in a number of crude vegetable homogenates and should be particularly useful where a rapid visual determination of lipoxygenase activity is desired.

Developmental regulation of enzymes of sucrose and hexose metabolism in effective and ineffective soybean nodules.

Soybean (Glycine max) nodules formed by inoculation with either an effective strain or an ineffective (noninvasive, nodule-forming) strain of Bradyrhizobium japonicum were assayed for changes in developmental patterns of carbon metabolic enzymes of the plant nodule cells. Of the enzyme activities measured, only sucrose synthase, glutamine synthetase, and alcohol dehydrogenase were altered in the ineffective nodules relative to the effective nodules. Sucrose synthase and glutamine synthetase activities were greatly reduced, whereas alcohol dehydrogenase activity was elevated. Dark-induced senescence severely affected sucrose synthase but had little, if any, effect on the other enzymes measured. The developmental patterns of the anaerobically induced enzymes, aldolase and alcohol dehydrogenase, were different from those expected, implying that their development is not regulated solely by oxygen deprivation. However, anaerobic treatment of nodules resulted in responses similar to those enzymes in maize. The developmental profiles of the carbon metabolic enzymes suggest that carbohydrates are metabolized via the sucrose synthase and pentose phosphate pathways. This route of carbon metabolism, compared to glycolysis, would reduce the requirement of ATP for carbohydrate catabolism, generate NADPH for biosynthetic reactions, and provide intermediates for plant secondary metabolism.

Purification and properties of the h-translocating ATPase from the plasma membrane of tomato roots.

The proton-translocating, plasma membrane ATPase was purified from tomato roots. At the final stage of purification approximately 80% of the protein was found in a single band with an apparent molecular weight of 90 kilodaltons. Cross-linking studies indicated that the ATPase normally exists as a trimer of catalytic subunits. No evidence was found for any additional subunits. The pH optimum for ATP hydrolysis by the purified protein was 6.5. Activity was stimulated by K(+), especially at low pH, and inhibited by vanadate, N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, and diethylstilbestrol; nitrate was weakly inhibitory. Activity was stimulated by lysolecithin but inhibited by sonicated phospholipids. The inhibition by lipids could be prevented if octylglucoside was added with the lipids; the combination of octylglucoside and lipids actually stimulated activity. The purified protein could be reconstituted into liposomes and catalyzed ATP-dependent, vanadate-sensitive proton translocation.

Evidence for multiple effects in the methanol activation of chloroplast coupling factor 1.

Activation of the latent ATPase of soluble CF1 by methanol is shown to involve several distinct effects. CaATPase activity of whole, but not epsilon-deficient or heat-activated CF1, is stimulated by methanol. This suggests that one effect of methanol is to overcome inhibition by the epsilon subunit. In contrast, the MgATPase activities of both whole and epsilon-deficient CF1 are further stimulated by methanol. This second activating effect can be traced in part to a greatly increased affinity of CF1, due to methanol, for those anions which reverse the inhibitory effect of Mg2+. Since the inhibition by free Ca2+ is much less severe than that caused by Mg2+, anions have relatively little effect on CaATPase. Thus methanol has little or no effect when Ca2+ is the divalent cation, but stimulates the reaction when Mg2+ is used. Methanol also stimulates the MgATPase activity of epsilon-deficient CF1 in the complete absence of activating anions. This additional effect is shown to arise from an increase in the Vmax rather than from changes in either the Km for MgATP or the Ki for free Mg2+. Since this change in Vmax occurs with the MgATPase but not the CaATPase, it can be inferred that different steps are rate-limiting in the two activities.

Methanol-induced release of tightly bound adenine nucleotides from thylakoid-associated CF1.

Incubation of thylakoids in 33% methanol causes a release of the tightly bound nucleotides from CF1. This methanol effect is not a stimulation of nucleotide exchange, since no medium ATP or ADP is incorporated into CF1 during the methanol treatment. While the optimal conditions for stimulating the release of tightly bound ADP were similar to those for activating the ATPase, a direct relationship between the effects was not found. The tightly bound ADP does not represent a catalytic intermediate in this system, since (a) its rate of release is much slower than enzyme turnover, and (b) the substrate specificity for hydrolysis is different from that which promotes ADP release. A regulatory role for the tightly bound ADP in methanol-activated ATPase is also not indicated, since (a) activation of the ATPase occurs much more rapidly than ADP release, and (b) after the tightly bound ADP has been lost, high rates of ATP hydrolysis still require the presence of methanol, and (c) the small ATPase activity which persists after the removal of the methanol is not correlated with the loss of bound ADP. These results show that significant rates of ATP hydrolysis can occur with ADP still tightly bound to CF1. This argues against any model in which ADP regulates ATPase activity by binding directly to the catalytic site.

Ammonia accumulation and inhibition of photosynthesis in methionine sulfoximine treated spinach.

Ammonia accumulation and photosynthetic rate inhibition took place when spinach leaf tissue was supplied with methionine sulfoximine (MSO), an inhibitor of glutamine synthetase. This effect was observed in the absence of significant inorganic nitrogen reduction or an exogenous source of ammonia. Both the time lag prior to the initial photosynthetic rate decrease and the rate of that decrease depend on the O(2) and MSO concentrations supplied to the leaf tissue. However, the total rate of ammonia accumulation was similar at both 20% and 2.2% O(2). The decline in photosynthetic rate was not caused by stomatal closure but may be a result of ammonia toxicity. The data point out the importance of glutamine synthetase in preventing the poisoning of leaf metabolism by ammonia generated internally through processes not involved in net nitrogen assimilation. The rapidity of the action of MSO in suppressing photosynthesis was unexpected and should not be overlooked in interpreting data from other experiments involving that inhibitor. MSO shows promise as a tool for investigating C-N flow, particularly during photorespiration.