Reducing values: dinitrosalicylate gives over-oxidation and invalid results whereas copper bicinchoninate gives no over-oxidation and valid results.

A comparative study was made between two carbohydrate reducing value methods, a relatively old, highly alkaline, 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid (DNSA) method and a relatively newer, low alkaline (pH 10.5), copper bicinchoninate (CuBic) method. Reducing values for a series of equimolar amounts of maltose-maltohexaose, isomaltose-isomaltohexaose, and cellobiose-cellohexaose were compared by the two methods. The DNSA method gave over-oxidation for equimolar amounts of all three of the oligosaccharide series. The amount of oxidation increased as the sizes of the oligosaccharides increased, giving inflated, inaccurate reducing values. The CuBic method gave constant reducing values, for equimolar amounts of the oligosaccharides, indicating that there was no over-oxidation, as the sizes of the oligosaccharides were increased. The two methods were used to determine the number average molecular weights (MWn) for six polysaccharides. The DNSA method was not able to determine the MWn for any of the polysaccharides tested due to the low sensitivity of the method, compared with the CuBic method that did not give over-oxidation and gave reasonable MWn values for all six of the polysaccharides tested.

Tests for the mechanism of starch biosynthesis: de novo synthesis or an amylogenin primer synthesis.

Studies in 1940 on potato phosphorylase reaction with starch found that d-glucopyranose from α-d-glucopyranosyl-1-phosphate was added to the nonreducing-ends of starch chains. This led to the hypothesis that the biosynthesis of starch required a preformed primer. Later it was found that phosphorylase was exclusively a degradative enzyme in vivo and that starch-synthase was the enzyme that reacted with ADPGlc to biosynthesize starch. Amylogenin, a putative self-glycosylated protein, was postulated to be the primer, although it was never demonstrated or found. In the present study, three reactions were performed in sequence with a highly purified potato starch-synthase to determine whether an amylogenin primer was present and required or whether the biosynthesis was de novo. Reaction 1 was performed by adding 2.0mM ADPGlc to synthesize the putative primer to a possible amylogenin in the preparation; in Reaction 2, 10mM ADP-[(14)C]Glc was added; and in Reaction 3, 10mM nonlabeled ADPGlc was added. After the isolation, reduction, and acid hydrolysis of the products of Reactions 2 and 3, (14)C-d-glucitol was obtained from Reaction 2 and was decreased by Reaction 3. The formation of (14)C-d-glucitol and its decrease showed that an amylogenin, protein primer was not involved in starch biosynthesis and the synthesis is de novo by the addition of d-glucose to the reducing-ends of growing starch chains.

Significant increases in potato Starch-Synthase and Starch-Branching-Enzyme activities by dilution with buffer containing dithiothreitol and polyvinyl alcohol 50 K.

We have recently found that the dilution of purified potato Starch-Synthases (SS) and Starch-Branching-Enzymes (SBEs), by a glycine buffer (pH 8.5), containing 1.0mM dithiothreitol (DTT) and 0.04% (w/v) polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) 50K, produced a striking and significant increase in activity (mIU/mL and total mIU) when diluted 1→2 to 1→10. As an example, one SS fraction diluted 1→10 went from 259 to 1470 mIU/mL, giving a total of 14,700 mIU. Dilutions of 1→15 usually resulted in a complete loss of activity. Removal of both DTT and PVA also gave the complete loss of activity. Individual removal of just DTT and the removal of just PVA also produced lowered activities on dilution. The addition of the DTT and the PVA back to the diluted fractions did produce an increase in the activity, but never to the extent that occurred when the samples were diluted simultaneously with both DTT and PVA together in the diluting buffer. Dilution of SBE with buffer containing both DTT and PVA, gave moderate increases, with the exception of one fraction that diluted 1→20 gave a significant increase from 18 to 382 mIU/mL and a total of 7640 mIU. It is concluded that there are inactive starch synthesizing enzymes in the purified fractions that are significantly activated by DTT and PVA, giving much greater amounts of enzyme activities.

Potent inhibition of starch-synthase by Tris-type buffers is responsible for the perpetuation of the primer myth for starch biosynthesis.

Mukerjea and Robyt [Carbohydr. Res. 2012, 352, 137-142] showed that a primer-free potato starch-synthase synthesized starch chains de novo, without the addition of a primer. A dichotomy arises as to why 61 studies from 1964 to the present have had to add a carbohydrate primer to obtain starch-synthase activity. All of these studies used 25-100 mM Tris, Bicine, or Tricine buffers. We have found that the Tris-type buffers completely inhibit starch-synthase at these concentrations. The addition of 10 mg/mL of the putative primers, glycogen and maltotetraose, gave a partial reversal of the inhibition, with glycogen being better than maltotetraose. It has been found that the Tris-type buffers form a complex with the ADPGlc substrate, removing it from the digest, causing the inhibition. The addition of the putative primers releases some of the ADPGlc from the complex, permitting it to act as a substrate for starch-synthase. The study definitively shows that the need for primers for starch-synthase by many investigators from 1964 to the present has been caused by Tris-type buffer inhibition that was partially reversed by putative primers. This has led to the perpetuation of the primer myth for the biosynthesis of starch chains by starch-synthase.

De novo biosynthesis of starch chains without a primer and the mechanism for its biosynthesis by potato starch-synthase.

The starch-synthase enzymes used in this study were the second acetone precipitate and Fractions 21 and 23, Table 1, [Mukerjea, Ru.; Falconer, D. J.; Yoon, S.-H.; Robyt, J. F. Carbohydr. Res. 2010, 345, 1555-1563]. Fractions 21 and 23 had high specific activities of 544 and 944 International Units/mg, respectively. When the enzymes and buffer and substrate were treated with immobilized α-amylase and glucoamylase for 30 min, they all had the same activity, before and after treatment, indicating that the enzymes were free of putative primers and synthesized amylose chains de novo, without the addition of primers. Starch-synthase was immobilized and reacted with ADP-[(14)C]Glc; the immobilized enzyme was removed, washed and treated at pH 2 and 50 °C for 30 min, giving the release of (14)C-D-glucopyranose and (14)C-amylose, showing that during catalysis they were covalently attached to the enzyme active-site. Pulse and chase reactions of starch-synthase with ADP-[(14)C]Glc and ADPGlc, respectively, followed by reduction and acid hydrolysis of the starch-chain product, gave (14)C-D-glucitol from the pulse reaction and a significant decrease of (14)C-D-glucitol from the chase reaction, showing that the addition of D-glucose from ADPGlc was to the reducing-ends of the growing amylose chains. Reactions of four different concentrations of starch-synthase, with constant ADPGlc concentration and temperature, gave four amylose chains, each with different number average molecular weights that were inversely proportional to the concentration of the enzyme, indicating that the synthesis was processive. From the results, a two catalytic-site, insertion mechanism is proposed for the biosynthesis of starch chains.

Preparation and characterization of new and improved soluble-starches, -amylose, and -amylopectin by reaction with benzaldehyde/zinc chloride.

Seven different starches from potato, rice, maize, waxymaize, amylomaize-VII, shoti, and tapioca, and potato amylose and potato amylopectin have been reacted with benzaldehyde, catalyzed by ZnCl(2), to give new water-soluble starches and water soluble-amylose and soluble-amylopectin. In contrast to the native starches, aqueous solutions of the modified starches could not be precipitated with 2-, 3-, or 4-volumes of ethanol. ß-Amylase gave no reaction with the modified starches, in contrast to the native starches, indicating that the modification occurred exclusively at the nonreducing-ends, giving 4,6-benzylidene-D-glucopyranose at the nonreducing-ends. Reactions of α-amylase with native and modified potato and rice starches gave a decrease in the triiodide blue color and an increase in the reducing-value that were similar for the native- and modified-starches, indicating the modified starches had not been significantly altered by the modification. The benzaldehyde-modified starches and benzaldehyde-modified potato amylose and potato amylopectin components, therefore, have a starch structure very much like their native counterparts, in contrast to the Lintner, Small, and the alcohol/acid-hydrolyzed soluble-starches that have undergone acid hydrolysis. The benzaldehyde-modified starches and starch components have significantly higher water solubility than their native counterparts even though the structures of the modified starches had only been slightly altered from the structures of their native counterparts. They all gave crystal-clear solutions that did not retrograde.

Comparative study of the efficacies of nine assay methods for the dextransucrase synthesis of dextran.

A comparative study of nine assay methods for dextransucrase and related enzymes has been made. A relatively widespread method for the reaction of dextransucrase with sucrose is the measurement of the reducing value of D-fructose by alkaline 3,5-dinitrosalicylate (DNS) and thereby the amount of D-glucose incorporated into dextran. Another method is the reaction with (14)C-sucrose with the addition of an aliquot to Whatman 3MM paper squares that are washed three times with methanol to remove (14)C-D-fructose and unreacted (14)C-sucrose, followed by counting of (14)C-dextran on the paper by liquid scintillation counting (LSC). It is shown that both methods give erroneous results. The DNS reducing value method gives extremely high values due to over-oxidation of both D-fructose and dextran, and the (14)C-paper square method gives significantly low values due to the removal of some of the (14)C-dextran from the paper by methanol washes. In the present study, we have examined nine methods and find two that give values that are identical and are an accurate measurement of the dextransucrase reaction. They are (1) a (14)C-sucrose/dextransucrase digest in which dextran is precipitated three times with three volumes of ethanol, dissolved in water, and added to paper and counted in a toluene cocktail by LSC; and (2) precipitation of dextran three times with three volumes of ethanol from a sucrose/dextransucrase digest, dried, and weighed. Four reducing value methods were examined to measure the amount of D-fructose. Three of the four (two DNS methods, one with both dextran and D-fructose and the other with only D-fructose, and the ferricyanide/arsenomolybdate method with D-fructose) gave extremely high values due to over-oxidation of D-fructose, D-glucose, leucrose, and dextran.

Biosynthesis of dextrans with different molecular weights by selecting the concentration of Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512FMC dextransucrase, the sucrose concentration, and the temperature.

Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512FMC dextransucrase was found to synthesize dextrans of varying molecular weights by selecting the concentrations of dextransucrase and sucrose, as well as the temperature. Four enzyme concentrations (50, 10, 1.0, and 0.1U/mL), five sucrose concentrations (20, 50, 100, 200 and 1000mM), and two temperatures (20°C and 30°C) were studied. The highest amount of enzyme (50U/mL), with the lowest concentration of sucrose (20mM), and the lower temperature of 20°C gave the lowest number-average molecular weight (MW(n)) of 20,630Da, respectively. As the sucrose concentration was increased, 50mM, 100mM, and 200mM, the MW(n) was 49,240Da, 63,350Da, and 126,720Da, respectively. The next enzyme concentration (10U/mL) gave a similar upward trend, starting at 73,130Da and ending at 237,870Da at 20°C and 130,040Da and ending at 415,770Da at 30°C. The upward trend continued for the 1.0 and 0.1U/mL enzyme concentrations. An increase in the temperature had the overall effect of increasing the MW(n) for each decreasing concentration of enzyme and increasing concentration of sucrose. For 0.1U/mL and 1000mM sucrose at 30°C, the MW(n) was 1,645,700Da. The results of the study show that the molecular weights of the synthesized dextrans were inversely proportional to the concentration of the enzyme and directly proportional to the concentration of sucrose and the temperature.

Large-scale isolation, fractionation, and purification of soluble starch-synthesizing enzymes: starch synthase and branching enzyme from potato tubers.

Soluble starch-synthesizing enzymes, starch synthase (SSS) and starch-branching enzyme (SBE), were isolated, fractionated, and purified from white potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum) on a large scale. Five steps were used: potato tuber extract from 2 kg of peeled potatoes, two acetone precipitations, and two fractionations on a large ultrafiltration polysulfone hollow fiber 100 kDa cartridge. Three kinds of fractions were obtained: (1) mixtures of SSS and SBE; (2) SSS, free of SBE; and (3) SBE, free of SSS. Contaminating enzymes (amylase, phosphorylase, and disproportionating enzyme) and carbohydrates were absent from the 2nd acetone precipitate and from the column fractions, as judged by the Molisch test and starch triiodide test. Activity yields of 122% (300,000-400,000 units) of SSS fractions and 187% (40,000-50,000 units) of SBE fractions were routinely obtained from the cartridge. Addition of 0.04% (w/v) polyvinyl alcohol 50K and 1 mM dithiothreitol to the glycine buffer (pH 8.4) gave long-term stability and higher yields of SSS and SBE, due to activation of inactive enzymes. Several SSS and SBE fractions from the two fractionations had very high specific activities, indicating high degrees of purification. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of selected SSS and SBE fractions gave two to five SSS and/or SBE activity bands, corresponding to the one to five protein bands present in the 2nd acetone precipitate.

Enzymatic synthesis of L-DOPA alpha-glycosides by reaction with sucrose catalyzed by four different glucansucrases from four strains of Leuconostoc mesenteroides.

L-DOPA alpha-glycosides were synthesized by reaction of L-DOPA with sucrose, catalyzed by four different glucansucrases from Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512FMC, B-742CB, B-1299A, and B-1355C. The glucansucrases catalyzed the transfer of d-glucose from sucrose to the phenolic hydroxyl position-3 and -4 of L-DOPA. The glycosides were fractionated and purified by Bio-Gel P-2 column chromatography, and the structures were determined by (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The major glycoside was 4-O-alpha-d-glucopyranosyl L-DOPA, and the minor glycoside was 3-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl L-DOPA. The two glycosides were formed by all four of the glucansucrases. The ratio of the 4-O-alpha-glycoside to the 3-O-alpha-glycoside produced by the B-512FMC dextransucrase was higher than that for the other three glucansucrases. The glycosylation of L-DOPA significantly reduced the oxidation of the phenolic hydroxyl groups, which prevents their methylation, potentially increasing the use of L-DOPA in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The use of one enzyme, glucansucrase, and sucrose as the D-glucosyl donor makes the synthesis considerably simpler and cheaper than the formerly published procedure using cyclomaltodextrin and cyclomaltodextrin glucanyltransferase, followed by glucoamylase, and beta-amylase hydrolysis.

Controlled release of D-glucose from starch granules containing 29% free D-glucose and Eudragit L100-55 as a binding and coating agent.

Waxy maize starch (100% amylopectin) granules were modified by reaction of the granules with glucoamylase in a minimum amount of water to give 29% (w/w) D-glucose inside the granules [Kim, Y.-K.; Robyt, J. F. Carbohydr. Res.1999, 318, 129-134]. These granules were made into beads by dropping an ethanol slurry of starch and different amounts of Eudragit L100-55 in a constant ratio of 100:1 from a pipette onto Whatman 3MM filter paper. The starch beads were air dried and then repeatedly sprayed 0-12 times with 2.0% (w/v) Eudragit L100-55 in ethanol, with drying between each spraying, to coat the surface of the starch beads, giving different amounts of Eudragit L100-55 coating. Seven different kinds of beads, with different amounts of Eudragit L100-55 binding and coating agent, were obtained. The rates of release of D-glucose into water from the seven kinds of beads were inversely proportional to the amount of binding and coating agent. Bead type I, which was without any binding and coating gave a fast 100% release of D-glucose in 30 min. Beads II and III also gave a fast 100% release in 60 min and 90 min, respectively. Bead IV gave a near linear release of 97% D-glucose in 150 min; Bead V gave a 50% release in 120 min followed by the remaining 50% in 60 min; and Beads VI and VII gave a slow release of 10% and 4%, respectively, from 0 to 120 min, followed by a rapid 100% release from 120 to 180 min.

Isolation, structure, and characterization of the putative soluble amyloses from potato, wheat, and rice starches.

Amylose, a putative linear alpha-(1-->4)-glucan and a component of most starches, was isolated from potato, rice, and wheat starches by forming the 1-butanol complex in a solution of the starches. It previously had been found that these amyloses were incompletely hydrolyzed by beta-amylase, indicating that it was partially branched. Solubilization of the butanol complex in water and steam distillation of the 1-butanol, followed by cooling to 4 degrees C gave precipitation of the double helical, linear, retrograded amylose over a 15 h period, leaving the soluble amylose in solution. The soluble amyloses were precipitated with two volumes of ethanol, and the precipitate was solubilized and reprecipitated to remove traces of linear amylose. The precipitated, soluble amyloses, were partially branched and had properties intermediate between linear amylose and amylopectin. The water solubility of the potato amylose was 10.52 mg/mL, with a number-average degree of polymerization (DP(n)) of 8440 and 2.1% branch linkages that had a DP(n) of 48; the water solubility of the rice amylose was 8.83 mg/mL, with a DP(n) of 2911 and 1.4% branch linkages that had a DP(n) of 72; and the water solubility of wheat amylose was 6.33 mg/mL, with a DP(n) of 1160 and 1.6% branch linkages that had a DP(n) of 64. The three soluble amyloses have structures and properties intermediate between the nearly water insoluble (

Synthesis of dopamine and L-DOPA-alpha-glycosides by reaction with cyclomaltohexaose catalyzed by cyclomaltodextrin glucanyltransferase.

Dopamine-HCl and L-DOPA-alpha-glycosides were prepared by reaction with cyclomaltohexaose, catalyzed by Bacillus macerans cyclomaltodextrin glucanyltransferase. The reaction gave maltodextrins attached to dopamine and L-DOPA; the maltodextrins were trimmed by reactions with glucoamylase and beta-amylase to produce alpha-glucosyl- and alpha-maltosyl-glycosides, respectively. The glucoamylase- or beta-amylase-treated dopamine- and L-DOPA-alpha-glycosides were fractionated and purified by BioGel P-2 gel-filtration column chromatography and preparative descending paper chromatography. Analysis by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and one- and two-dimensional NMR showed that the purified glycosides of dopamine and L-DOPA were glycosylated at the hydroxyl groups of positions 3 and 4 of the catechol ring. The major product was found to be 4-O-alpha-glycopyranosyl L-DOPA, and it was shown to be more resistant to oxidative tolerance experiments, involving hydrogen peroxide and ferrous ion, than L-DOPA. L-DOPA-alpha-glycosides are possibly more effective substitutes for L-DOPA in treating Parkinson's disease in that they are more resistant to oxidation and methylation, which renders L-DOPA ineffective and deleterious.

Starch biosynthesis: experiments on how starch granules grow in vivo.

Four varieties of starch granules from potato, wheat, maize, and rice were fractionated into homogeneous 10-microm-sized ranges. The size with the largest amount of granules was reacted with ADP-[(14)C]Glc, washed, and peeled into 7-9 layers, using a controlled peeling process, involving 90:10 volume proportions of Me(2)SO-H(2)O at 10 degrees C. All of the starches showed biosynthesis of starch throughout the granules. Starch synthase activities were determined for each of the layers. Three of the starches had a relatively large amount of synthase activity in the second layer, with only a small amount in the first layer. Potato starch had the largest amount of activity in the first layer. Starch synthase activity was found to alternate between higher and lower activities throughout all of the varieties of granules, showing that the synthesis was not uniform and also was not exclusively occurring at the surface of the starch granules, which had previously been hypothesized. From these results and our previous studies on the mechanism of starch chain elongation by the addition of d-glucose to the reducing end of a growing chain that is covalently attached to the active site of starch synthase, a hypothesis is proposed for how starch granules grow in vivo.

Dextransucrase and the mechanism for dextran biosynthesis.

Remaud-Simeon and co-workers [Moulis, C.; Joucla, G.; Harrison, D.; Fabre, E.; Potocki-Veronese, G.; Monsan, P.; Remaud-Simeon, M. J. Biol. Chem., 2006, 281, 31254-31267] have recently proposed that a truncated Escherichia coli recombinant B-512F dextransucrase uses sucrose and the hydrolysis product of sucrose, D-glucose, as initiator primers for the nonreducing-end synthesis of dextran. Using (14)C-labeled D-glucose in a dextransucrase-sucrose digest, it was found that <0.02% of the D-glucose appears in a dextran of M(n) 84,420, showing that D-glucose is not an initiator primer, and when the dextran was treated with 0.01 M HCl at 80 degrees C for 90 min and a separate sample with invertase at 50 degrees C for 24h, no D-fructose was formed, indicating that sucrose is not present at the reducing-end of dextran, showing that sucrose also was not an initiator primer. It is further shown that both d-glucose and dextran are covalently attached to B-512FMC dextransucrase at the active site during polymerization. A pulse reaction with [(14)C]-sucrose and a chase reaction with nonlabeled sucrose, followed by dextran isolation, reduction, and acid hydrolysis, gave (14)C-glucitol in the pulsed dextran, which was significantly decreased in the chased dextran, showing that the D-glucose moieties of sucrose are added to the reducing-ends of the covalently linked growing dextran chains. The molecular size of dextran is shown to be inversely proportional to the concentration of the enzyme, indicating a highly processive mechanism in which D-glucose is rapidly added to the reducing-ends of the growing chains, which are extruded from the active site of dextransucrase. It is also shown how the three conserved amino acids (Asp551, Glu589, and Asp 622) at the active sites of glucansucrases participate in the polymerization of dextran and related glucans from a single active site by the addition of the D-glucose moiety of sucrose to the reducing-ends of the covalently linked glucan chains in a two catalytic-site, insertion mechanism.

Formation of covalent beta-linked carbohydrate-enzyme intermediates during the reactions catalyzed by alpha-amylases.

Porcine pancreatic and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens alpha-amylases were examined for the formation of covalent carbohydrate intermediates during reaction. The enzymes were precipitated and denatured by adding 10 volumes of acetone. When these denatured enzymes were mixed with methyl alpha-6-[(3)H]-maltooligosaccharide glycosides and chromatographed on BioGel P-2, no carbohydrate was found in the protein void volume peak. When the enzymes were added to the methyl alpha-6-[(3)H]-maltooligosaccharide glycosides and allowed to react for 15s at 1 degrees C and then precipitated and denatured with 10 volumes of acetone, (3)H-labeled carbohydrates were found in the BioGel P-2 protein void volume peak, indicating the formation of enzyme-carbohydrate covalent intermediates. (1)H NMR analysis of the denatured enzyme from the reaction with methyl alpha-maltooligosaccharide glycosides confirmed that carbohydrate was attached to the denatured enzyme. (1)H NMR saturation-transfer analysis further showed that the carbohydrate was attached to the denatured enzyme by a beta-configuration. This configuration is what would be expected for an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of alpha-(1-->4) glycosidic linkages by a two-step, S(N)2 double-displacement reaction to give retention of the alpha-configuration of the substrates at the reducing-end of the products.

Determination of the maximum water solubility of eight native starches and the solubility of their acidic-methanol and -ethanol modified analogues.

The maximum water solubilities of eight native starches from potato, shoti, tapioca, maize, waxy maize, amylomaize-7, wheat, and rice and their acid-methanol and acid-ethanol modified analogues have been determined. Maximum solubilities of 18.7 and 17.4 mg/mL were obtained for waxy maize and tapioca and 12.4 mg/mL for potato and maize starches by autoclaving 220 mg/10 mL at 121 degrees C; 8.7 mg/mL was obtained for shoti starch by stirring in 85:15 (v/v) Me(2)SO-H(2)O at 20 degrees C; and 7.0 and 5.2mg/mL for rice and amylomaize-7 starches by stirring in 1M NaOH at 20 degrees C. The acid-alcohol treated starches were 4-9 times more soluble than their native starches. The compositions of the solubilized starches had, in general, much higher ratios of amylose to amylopectin than the ratios in their native granules. A major exception to this was the acid-methanol treated potato, shoti, and rice starches that had much lower ratios of amylose to amylopectin than the ratios in their granules.

Significant differences in the activities of alpha-amylases in the absence and presence of polyethylene glycol assayed on eight starches solubilized by two methods.

Starch is a reserve chemical source of the energy of the sun found in plants as a water-insoluble granule that differs in their chemical and physical properties, depending on the source. The granules can be solubilized by heating in water or by treatment with various reagents, such as 1M NaOH. alpha-Amylases are widely distributed enzymes that initiate the hydrolysis of starch into low molecular weight maltodextrins. We recently found that the activities of a single alpha-amylase on two different starches were significantly different. We then determined the activities of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and porcine pancreas alpha-amylases, using eight different starches, solubilized by two methods: autoclaving at 121 degrees C and 1M NaOH at 20 degrees C. There were significant differences in the activities of both of the amylases on all eight of the starches. Previously, it had been found that polyethylene glycol (PEG) stabilized and activated the activities of both enzymes, using a soluble amylose as the substrate. Addition of PEG to the enzymes greatly increased the activities on the eight starches, but the activities still differed significantly. The different activities with the starches were hypothesized as differences in the amounts of secondary and tertiary structures that are partially retained when the different starches are solubilized; the activities on addition of PEG is hypothesized as the formation of highly active species from a series of less active forms.

Cloning, expression and characterization of an extracellular enolase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides.

Enolase on the surface of streptococci putatively facilitates pathogenic invasion of the host organisms. The related Leuconostoc mesenteroides 512FMCM is nonpathogenic, but it too has an extracellular enolase. Purified isolates of extracellular dextransucrase from cultures of L. mesenteroides contain minute amounts of enolase, which separate as small crystals. Expression of L. mesenteroides enolase in Escherichia coli provides a protein (calculated subunit mass of 47 546 Da) catalyzing the conversion of 2-phsopho-D-glycerate to phosphoenolpyruvate. The pH optimum is 6.8, with Km and kcat values of 2.61 mM and 27.5 s(-1), respectively. At phosphate concentrations of 1 mM and below, fluoride is a noncompetitive inhibitor with respect to 2-phospho-D-glycerate, but in the presence of 20 mM phosphate, fluoride becomes a competitive inhibitor. Recombinant enolase significantly inhibits the activity of purified dextransucrase, and does not bind human plasminogen. Results here suggest that in some organisms enolase may participate in protein interactions that have no direct relevance to pathogenic invasion.

Controlled peeling of the surfaces of starch granules by gelatinization in aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide at selected temperatures.

Microscopic examination of starch granules in 90:10 (v/v) Me(2)SO-H(2)O indicated that the granules were slowly being gelatinized from their surfaces. The rate of gelatinization was dependent on two variables: (1) the amount of water in Me(2)SO and (2) the temperature. An increase of water in Me(2)SO and/or an increase in temperature increased the rate of gelatinization and vice versa. Specific ratios of Me(2)SO and H(2)O (85:15-95:5) and temperatures (0-15 degrees C) were found to give controlled sequential peeling/gelatinization of eight kinds of starch granules in 1-12h, with amounts of 10-25% gelatinization per hour. It was observed that the percent of starch granule remaining versus time gave curves that were linear and others that had linear parts separated by one or more abrupt changes. No two starches had a similar gelatinization curve for the same two conditions of the amount of water and the temperature. It is hypothesized that these curves reflect different structural characteristics for the individual kinds of starch granules.