Proceedings: Intracellular compartmentation in gluconeogenesis from fat in seedlings.
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Citric Acid Cycle↗
Biomedical subjects
H Beevers
Publications and source records attributed to H Beevers.
Lecithin synthesis during microbody biogenesis in watermelon cotyledons.
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Cell Fractionation↗
Localization and properties of ribulose diphosphate carboxylase from castor bean endosperm.
A substantial portion of the ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase activity in the endosperm of germinating castor beans (Ricinus communis var. Hale) is recovered in the proplastid fraction. The partially purified enzyme shows homology with the enzyme from spinach (Spinacia oleracea) leaves, as evidenced by its reaction against antibodies to the native spinach enzyme and to its catalytic subunit. The enzyme from the endosperm of castor beans has a molecular weight of about 500,000 and, with the exception of a higher affinity for ribulose 1,5-diphosphate, has similar kinetic properties to the spinach enzyme. The castor bean carboxylase is inhibited by oxygen and also displays ribulose 1,5-diphosphate oxygenase activity with an optimum at pH 7.5.
Journal Article↗
The development of microbodies (glyoxysomes and leaf peroxisomes) in cotyledons of germinating watermelon seedlings.
The ontogeny of glyoxysomes and leaf peroxisomes has been examined in the cotyledons of germinating watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris) seedlings. Organelles from the cotyledons were extracted by razor blade homogenization and microbodies were separated by sucrose density gradient fractionation. Both kinds of microbodies have the same mean equilibrium density on sucrose gradients.The development of leaf peroxisomes was examined in seedlings transferred to light at 4 days and 10 to 12 days. In seedlings maintained in darkness to the age of 10 to 12 days, glyoxysomal enzymes virtually disappeared, and the losses were paralleled by a corresponding loss in microbody protein. During this period peroxisomal activity was low and changed only slightly. On transfer to light at this stage, the activity of peroxisomal enzymes rose strikingly. The residual glyoxysomal activity disappeared completely, and the developmental pattern of microbody catalase and microbody protein paralleled the light-induced glyoxysomal disappearance.Similar patterns of microbody development were observed when 4-day-old dark-grown seedlings with maximum glyoxysomal activities were exposed to light. The activity of the peroxisomal enzymes increased and the glyoxysomal enzymes disappeared at a faster rate than in darkness. These changes were again paralleled by the accelerated demise of microbody catalase and microbody protein. Thus under both conditions glyoxysomes were selectively destroyed during peroxisomal development, and the amount of peroxisomes produced was insufficient to offset the loss of glyoxysomal protein. The results do not support the contention that glyoxysomes are transformed to leaf peroxisomes in developing cucurbit cotyledons and favor the view that the two kinds of microbody arise independently of each other.
Journal Article↗
Isolation and characterization of organelles from soybean suspension cultures.
Whole homogenates from cells of Glycine max grown in suspension culture were centrifuged on linear sucrose gradients. Assays for marker enzymes showed that distinct peaks enriched in particular organelles were separated as follows: endoplasmic reticulum (density 1.10 g/cm(3), NADH-cytochrome-c reductase), Golgi membranes (density 1.12 g/cm(3), inosine diphosphatase), mitochondria (density 1.18-1.19 g/cm(3), fumarase, cytochrome oxidase) and microbodies (density 1.21-1.23 g/cm(3), catalase). In cells which had ceased to grow (stationary phase) only a single symmetrical catalase peak at density 1.23 g/cm(3) was observed on the sucrose gradient. During the phase of cell division and expansion a minor particulate catalase component of lighter density was present; its possible significance is discussed.
Journal Article↗
Isolation and Characterization of Microbodies from the Alga Chlorogonium elongatum.
The alga Chlorogonium elongatum was grown autotrophically or heterotrophically on acetate. Cells harvested in the logarithmic phase of growth were disrupted, and the whole homogenates were fractionated on sucrose gradients. Protein and enzyme determinations carried out on the fractions led to the following conclusions. Chloroplast fragments which represent the major portion of particulate protein in autotrophic cells migrate to density 1.17 g/cm(3). In heterotrophic cells, mitochondria comprise most of the particulate protein, and these particles accumulate at density 1.19 g/cm(3), as shown by a peak of cytochrome oxidase in this region. Part of the catalase and uricase, two marker enzymes for microbodies, were found in the soluble fractions, but 60% or more of these activities were recovered at density 1.225 g/cm(3) from autotrophic cells. Electron micrographs showed that in this region there were microbodies with a diameter of 0.4 micrometer. The isolated microbodies contained no isocitrate lyase, a marker enzyme of glyoxysomes. This enzyme was completely soluble and therefore seems not to be associated with organelles in this organism.
Journal Article↗
Isolation of intact plastids from a range of plant tissues.
A technique for the isolation of intact plastids from spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and pea (Pisum sativum) leaves, pea roots and castor bean (Ricinus communis) endosperm is described. This technique involves brief centrifugation of whole homogenates on density gradients. Intact plastids were located in the gradient by assaying for triose phosphate isomerase activity. Contamination of the plastic peak with mitochondria and microbodies was estimated by measurement of cytochrome oxidase and catalase, respectively. For three of the four tissues the level of contamination of the plastids by these organelles was 2% or less. The sedimentation behavior of microbodies from different tissues is discussed.
Journal Article↗
Lipase Activities in Castor Bean Endosperm during Germination.
Two lipases were found in extracts from castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) endosperm. One, with optimal activity at pH 5.0 (acid lipase), was present in dry seeds and displayed high activity during the first 2 days of germination. The second, with an alkaline pH optimum (alkaline lipase), was particularly active during days 3 to 5. When total homogenates of endosperm were fractionated into fat layer, supernatant, and particulate fractions, the acid lipase was recovered in the fat layer, and the alkaline lipase was located primarily in the particulate fraction. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation showed that the alkaline lipase was located mainly in glyoxysomes, with some 30% of the activity in the endoplasmic reticulum. When glyoxysomes were broken by osmotic shock and exposed to KCl, which solubilizes most of the enzymes, the alkaline lipase remained particulate and was recovered with the glyoxysomal "ghosts" at equilibrium density 1.21 g/cm(3) on the sucrose gradient. Association of the lipase with the gly-oxysomal membrane was supported by the responses to detergents and to butanol. The alkaline lipase hydrolyzed only monosubstituted glycerols. The roles of the two lipases in lipid utilization during germination of castor bean are discussed.
Journal Article↗
Developmental changes in endosperm of germinating castor bean independent of embryonic axis.
Dry castor bean (Ricinus communis) seeds were cut transversely into halves and the half without the embryonic axis was placed in moist vermiculite at 30 C for 5 days. The development of the endosperm in the half-bean was found to be qualitatively similar to that in the whole seedling in the appearance of various enzymes of gluconeogenesis, the accumulation of glucose and sucrose as the end products of fat utilization, and the development of subcellular structure. It is concluded that during germination of castor bean, the embryonic axis does not directly control the developmental changes in the endosperm.
Journal Article↗
Immunological and biochemical studies on isozymes of malate dehydrogenase and citrate synthetase in castor bean glyoxysomes.
Rabbit gamma-globulin obtained after the injection of solubilized proteins of castor bean (Ricinus communis L var. Hale) glyoxysomes contains antibodies against some of the glyoxysomal enzymes. The gamma-globulin was shown to inhibit by 50% and 80%, respectively, the in vitro activities of the castor bean glyoxysomal citrate synthetase and malate dehydrogenase. The conditions required for the inactivation are described.The glyoxysomal and mitochondrial citrate synthetase from castor bean endosperm show no significant difference in the above immunological test, in their apparent Michaelis constant values for acetyl coenzyme A and oxaloacetate, or in their sensitivity toward ATP inhibition. In the immunological test, glyoxysomal malate dehydrogenase from castor bean endosperm appeared to be related more closely to the leaf peroxisomal malate dehydrogenase from spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) and to the glyoxysomal malate dehydrogenase from a variety of other fatty seedlings than to the castor bean mitochondrial or soluble malate dehydrogenase. Unlike the mitochondrial or soluble malate dehydrogenase, the castor bean glyoxysomal malate dehydrogenase is easily inactivated by gentle heat treatment, as was reported previously by other workers for the leaf peroxisomal malate dehydrogenase. Thus, the malate dehydrogenases from various plant microbodies share some common characteristics which distinguish them from other isozymes of malate dehydrogenase.
Journal Article↗
Conceptual developments in metabolic control, 1924-1974.
A brief sketch is given of the development of the understanding of the respiratory mechanism in plants over the past 50 years. Against this background the following aspects of control are discussed: (a) nonreversibility of catabolic sequences; (b) compartmentation of reactions and reactants; (c) control by amount of enzyme; (d) control by NAD and NADP; (e) control by ADP supply; (f) pacemaker reactions in glycolysis; and (g) control at branch points: further examples of allostery.
Journal Article↗
Endoplasmic reticulum as the site of lecithin formation in castor bean endosperm.
The properties of a discrete membranous fraction isolated on sucrose gradients from castor bean endosperm have been examined. This fraction was previously shown to be the exclusive site of phosphorylcholine-glyceride transferase. The distribution of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase and antimycin insensitive NADH-cytochrome c reductase across the gradient followed closely that of the phosphorylcholine-glyceride transferase. This fraction also had NADH diaphorase activity and contained cytochromes b(5) and P 450. On sucrose gradients containing 1 mM EDTA this fraction had a mean isopycnic density of 1.12 g/cm(3) and sedimented separately from the ribosomes; electron micrographs showed that it was comprised of smooth membranes. When magnesium was included in the gradients to prevent the dissociation of membrane-bound ribosomes, the isopycnic density of the membrane fraction with its associated enzymes was increased to 1.16 g/cm(3) and under these conditions the electron micrographs showed that the membranes had the typical appearance of rough endoplasmic reticulum. Together these data show that the endoplasmic reticulum is the exclusive site of lecithin formation in the castor bean endosperm and establish a central role for this cytoplasmic component in the biogenesis of cell membranes.
Cell Fractionation↗
Localization of enzymes within microbodies.
Microbodies from rat liver and a variety of plant tissues were osmotically shocked and subsequently centrifuged at 40,000 g for 30 min to yield supernatant and pellet fractions. From rat liver microbodies, all of the uricase activity but little glycolate oxidase or catalase activity were recovered in the pellet, which probably contained the crystalline cores as many other reports had shown. All the measured enzymes in spinach leaf microbodies were solubilized. With microbodies from potato tuber, further sucrose gradient centrifugation of the pellet yielded a fraction at density 1.28 g/cm(3) which, presumably representing the crystalline cores, contained 7% of the total catalase activity but no uricase or glycolate oxidase activity. Using microbodies from castor bean endosperm (glyoxysomes), 50-60% of the malate dehydrogenase, fatty acyl CoA dehydrogenase, and crotonase and 90% of the malate synthetase and citrate synthetase were recovered in the pellet, which also contained 96% of the radioactivity when lecithin in the glyoxysomal membrane had been labeled by previous treatment of the tissue with [(14)C]choline. When the labeled pellet was centrifuged to equilibrium on a sucrose gradient, all the radioactivity, protein, and enzyme activities were recovered together at peak density 1.21-1.22 g/cm(3), whereas the original glyoxysomes appeared at density 1.24 g/cm(3). Electron microscopy showed that the fraction at 1.21-1.22 g/cm(3) was comprised of intact glyoxysomal membranes. All of the membrane-bound enzymes were stripped off with 0.15 M KCl, leaving the "ghosts" still intact as revealed by electron microscopy and sucrose gradient centrifugation. It is concluded that the crystalline cores of plant microbodies contain no uricase and are not particularly enriched with catalase. Some of the enzymes in glyoxysomes are associated with the membranes and this probably has functional significance.
Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
The origin and turnover of organelle membranes in castor bean endosperm.
The origin and turnover of organelle membranes in castor bean (Ricinus communis L. var. Hale) endosperm was examined using choline-(14)C as a phospholipid precursor. On sucrose gradients three major particulate fractions were separated; a light membranous fraction (density 1.11-1.13 gram per cm(3)), the mitochondria (1.18 gram per cm(3)), and the glyoxysomes (1.24 gram per cm(3)). Choline-(14)C was readily incorporated into lecithin in all three particulate fractions, but the light membranous fraction became labeled first. Incorporation continued into all three fractions for 6 hours, at which time the available choline-(14)C had been completely used. Subsequently, (14)C was lost from the three components at distinctly different rates. When an excess of unlabeled choline was added after 1 hour (pulse-chase experiment), incorporation of choline-(14)C into glyoxysomes and mitochondria continued for three hours, but at a diminishing rate. This was followed by a period in which the (14)C content of the mitochondria declined at a rate expected, if the half life of lecithin in the membrane were about 50 hours and that of the glyoxysomes 10 hours. These values are close to those calculated from the experiments in which no chase was used. The labeling in the light membrane fraction behaved differently from that of the mitochondria and glyoxysomes following the chase of unlabeled choline. Incorporation continued for only 1 additional hour, and then the (14)C content declined sharply in the subsequent 4 hours. The early kinetics and subsequent interrelationships are those expected if the lecithin in the membranes of mitochondria and glyoxysomes originates in components of the light membrane fraction.
Journal Article↗
Development of enzymes in the cotyledons of watermelon seedlings.
Changes in hypocotyl length, cotyledon weight, lipid content, chlorophyll content, and capacity for photosynthesis have been described in seedlings of Citrullus vulgaris, Schrad. (watermelon) growing at 30 C under various light treatments. Corresponding changes in the levels of 19 enzymes in the cotyledons are described, with particular emphasis on enzymes of microbodies, since during normal greening, enzymes of the glyoxysomes are lost and those of leaf peroxisomes appear. In complete darkness enzymes of the glyoxysomes reach a peak at 4 days and decline as the fat is depleted. Enzymes of mitochondria and of glycolytic pathways also peak at 4 to 5 days and either remain unchanged or decline to a lesser extent. Exposure to light at 4 days, when the cotyledons emerge, results in a selectively greater destruction of enzymes of the glyoxylate cycle; chlorophyll synthesis and capacity for photosynthesis increase in parallel, and there is a striking increase in the activities of chloroplast enzymes and in those of the leaf peroxisomes, hydroxypyruvate reductase and glycolate oxidase. The reciprocal changes in enzymes of the glyoxysomes and of leaf peroxisomes can be temporally dissociated, since even after 10 days in darkness, when malate synthetase and isocitrate lyase have reached very low levels, hydroxypyruvate reductase and glycolate oxidase increase strikingly on exposure to light and the cotyledons become photosynthetic. Furthermore, the parallel development of enzymes of leaf peroxisomes and functional chloroplasts is not immutable, since hydroxypyruvate reductase and glycolate oxidase activity can be elicited in darkness following a 5-minute exposure to light at day 4 while chlorophyll does not develop under these conditions.
Journal Article↗
Enzymes of phospholipid metabolism in the endoplasmic reticulum of castor bean endosperm.
The intracellular location of several enzymes concerned with phospholipid metabolism was investigated by examining their distribution in organelles separated on sucrose gradients from total homogenates of castor bean (Ricinus communis var. Hale) endosperm. The enzymes phosphatidic acid phosphatase, CDP-diglyceride-inositol transferase, and phosphatidyletha-nolamine-l-serine phosphatidyl transferase were all primarily or exclusively confined to membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum. These results and those reported previously on lecithin synthesis establish a major role of the endoplasmic reticulum in phospholipid and membrane synthesis in plant tissues.
Journal Article↗
Differential response of mitochondrial and glyoxysomal citrate synthase to ATP.
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Adenosine Triphosphate↗