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R Douce

Publications and source records attributed to R Douce.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Activation of NAD-linked malic enzyme in intact plant mitochondria by exogenous coenzyme A.

O2 uptake by potato and cauliflower bud mitochondria oxidizing malate was progressively inhibited as the pH of the external medium was increased, in response to accumulation of oxaloacetate. Adding 0.5 mM coenzyme A to the medium reversed this trend by stimulating intramitochondrial NAD-linked malic enzyme at alkaline pH. In intact potato mitochondria, coenzyme A stimulation of malic enzyme was not observed when the external pH was above 7.5; in cauliflower mitochondria, coenzyme A stimulated even at pH 8. This difference in the response of intact mitochondria was attributed to an inherent difference in the properties of malic enzyme from the two tissues. Malic enzyme solubilized from potato mitochondria was inactive at pH values above 7.8, while that from cauliflower mitochondria retained its activity at pH 8 in the presence of coenzyme A. In potato mitochondria, coenzyme A stimulation of O2 uptake at alkaline pH was only observed when NAD+ was also provided exogenously. The results show that coenzyme A can be taken up by intact mitochondria and that pH, NAD+, and coenzyme A levels in the matrix act together to regulate malate oxidation.

Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1984

Transport of coenzyme A in plant mitochondria.

Oxoglutarate oxidation by purified potato mitochondria which had been stored at low temperature for 48 h or longer was stimulated by added coenzyme A. Exogenous coenzyme A was accumulated by potato mitochondria, both freshly prepared and aged, in a manner sensitive to uncouplers and low temperature. Coenzyme A was concentrated approximately 10-fold in the matrix under steady-state conditions. This coenzyme A uptake followed saturation kinetics with an apparent Km of 0.2 mM and a V of 4-6.5 nmol min-1 mg-1 protein, suggesting carrier-mediated transport. This transport was insensitive to an inhibitor of NAD+ transport. It is suggested that plant mitochondria possess a specific carrier for the net accumulation of coenzyme A.

Biological Transport, Active↗
PubMed1984

Is the cytosolic pi concentration a limiting factor for plant cell respiration?

The substrate-dependent O(2) uptake by sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) cell mitochondria in the presence of ADP and limiting Pi concentrations has been measured. The Pi concentration for half-maximum O(2) uptake rate was found to be in the range 20 to 50 micromolar for all the substrates tested. (31)P NMR of intact sycamore cells indicated that the Pi concentration in the cytoplasm was in the range 5 to 6 millimolar, approximately 100-fold higher than the Pi concentration required for maximum O(2) uptake rates by isolated mitochondria. When sycamore cells were transferred to a culture medium devoid of Pi, the cytoplasmic Pi concentration decreased from 6 to less than 3 millimolar, but the intact cell respiration remained practically constant for at least 4 days. These results strongly suggest that, in vivo, the respiration rate of sycamore cells is not limited by the quantity of Pi supplied to the mitochondria.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1984

Effects of rotenoids on isolated plant mitochondria.

The effects of several rotenoids have been studied on potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tuber and etiolated mung bean (Phaseolus aureus Roxb.) hypocotyls mitochondria. The selective inhibition of mitochondrial complex I is characterized by several tests: (a) no effect can be observed on exogenous NADH or succinate oxidation; (b) malate oxidation is inhibited at pH 7.5; (c) one-third decrease of ADP/O ratio appears during malate oxidation at pH 6.5 or during alpha-ketoglutarate, citrate, or pyruvate oxidation at a pH about 7; (d) during malate oxidation at pH 6.5, a transient inhibition appears which can be maintained by addition of exogenous oxaloacetate; (e) in potato mitochondria, the inhibition of malate oxidation disappears at pH 6.5 when NAD(+) is added. Then, a one-third decrease of the ADP/O ratio can be measured.Such a selective inhibition of complex I is obtained with deguelin, tephrosin, elliptone, OH-12 rotenone, and almost all the rotenoids extracted from Derris roots. The presence of the rings A, B, C, D, E seems to be necessary for the selective inhibition. Opening of the E ring and hydroxylation of the 9 position (rot-2'-enoic acid) give a rotenoid derivative with multisite inhibitory activities on flavoproteins, which are quite comparable to those of common flavonoids such as kaempferol (Ravanel et al. 1982 Plant Physiol 69: 375-378).

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

Slow passive diffusion of NAD+ between intact isolated plant mitochondria and suspending medium.

Isolated potato (Solanum tuberosum) tuber mitochondria purified by isopycnic centrifugation in density gradients of Percoll were found to be highly intact, to be devoid of extramitochondrial contaminations and to retain a high rate of O2 consumption. When suspended in a medium that avoided rupture of the outer membrane, intact purified mitochondria progressively lost their NAD+ content by passive diffusion. This led to a slow decrease of oxoglutarate-dependent O2 consumption by isolated mitochondria. Addition of NAD+ to the medium restored the initial State-3 rate of oxoglutarate oxidation. The rate of NAD+ accumulation in the matrix space was concentration-dependent, exhibited Michaelis-Menten kinetics and was strongly inhibited by the analogue N-4-azido-2-nitrophenyl-4-aminobutyryl-NAD+.

Azides↗
PubMed1983

Preparation and characterization of membrane fractions enriched in outer and inner envelope membranes from spinach chloroplasts. I. Electrophoretic and immunochemical analyses.

We have developed a fast and reliable method for the separation of two membrane fractions respectively enriched in outer and inner envelope membranes from isolated, intact, purified spinach chloroplasts kept in a hypertonic medium (0.6 M mannitol). This separation was achieved by osmotically shrinking the inner envelope membrane, thus widening the intermembrane space, and then subsequently removing the "loosened" outer envelope membrane by applying low pressure to the shrunken chloroplasts and slowly extruding them through the small aperture of a Yeda press under controlled conditions. By centrifugation of the mixture obtained through a discontinuous sucrose gradient, we were able to separate two membrane fractions having different densities (fraction 2 or light fraction, d = 1.08 g/cm3, and fraction 3 or heavy fraction, d = 1.13 g/cm3). The recent characterization of polypeptides localized on the outer envelope membrane from spinach chloroplasts, E10 and E24 (Joyard, J., Billecocq, A., Bartlett, S. G., Block, M. A., Chua, N.-H., and Douce, R. J. Biol. Chem., 258, 10000-10006) enabled us to characterize our two membrane fractions. Analyses of the polypeptides by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacryl-amide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting have shown that fraction 2 (light fraction) was completely devoid of polypeptide E30, which is involved in the transport of phosphate across the inner envelope membrane, but was enriched in polypeptides E10 and E24. The reverse was true for fraction 3 (heavy fraction). Under these conditions, it is clear that fraction 2 is strongly enriched in outer envelope membrane whereas fraction 3 consisted mostly of inner envelope membrane. Indeed, by immunoelectrophoresis, we were able to demonstrate that, on a protein basis, fraction 2 contained about 90% of outer membrane, whereas fraction 3 contained about 80% of inner membrane. Further characterization of the outer envelope membrane was achieved by using thermolysin, a nonpenetrant protease.

Cell Fractionation↗
PubMed1983

Preparation and characterization of membrane fractions enriched in outer and inner envelope membranes from spinach chloroplasts. II. Biochemical characterization.

In the previous paper (Block, M. A., Dorne, A.-J., Joyard, J., and Douce, R. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 13273-13280), we have described a method for the separation of membrane fractions enriched in outer and inner envelope membranes from spinach chloroplasts. The two envelope membranes have a different weight ratio of acyl lipid to protein (2.5-3 for the outer envelope membrane and 0.8-1 for the inner envelope membrane). The two membranes also differ in their polar lipid composition. However, in order to prevent the functioning of the galactolipid:galactolipid galactosyltransferase during the course of envelope membrane separation, we have analyzed the polar lipid composition of each envelope membrane after thermolysin treatment of the intact chloroplasts. The outer envelope membrane is characterized by the presence of high amounts of phosphatidylcholine and digalactosyldiacylglycerol whereas the inner envelope membrane has a polar lipid composition almost identical with that of the thykaloids. No phosphatidylethanolamine or cardiolipin could be detected in either envelope membranes, thus demonstrating that the envelope membranes, and especially the outer membrane, do not resemble extrachloroplastic membranes. No striking differences were found in the fatty acid composition of the polar lipids from either the outer or the inner envelope membrane. The two envelope membranes also differ in their carotenoid composition. Among the different enzymatic activities associated with the chloroplast envelope, we have shown that the Mg2+-dependent ATPase, the UDP-Gal:diacylglycerol galactosyltransferase, the phosphatidic acid phosphatase, and the acyl-CoA thioesterase are associated with the inner envelope from spinach chloroplasts whereas the acyl-CoA synthetase is located on the outer envelope membrane.

Cell Fractionation↗
PubMed1983

Localization of polypeptides to the cytosolic side of the outer envelope membrane of spinach chloroplasts.

Nonpenetrating proteolytic enzymes (such as thermolysin) were used to probe the cytosolic surface of the outer envelope membrane from spinach chloroplasts. Up to 20 different envelope polypeptides were susceptible to a mild digestion of isolated intact chloroplasts by thermolysin. Most of the thermolysin-sensitive envelope polypeptides were not extracted by a mixture of chloroform/methanol (2:1, v/v). A clear exception was E10 which is hydrophobic and, in addition, is an integral membrane polypeptide. Using antibodies to envelope polypeptides sensitive (E10 and E24) and insensitive (E30 and E37) to thermolysin, we demonstrated that only antibodies to E10 and E24, but not antibodies to E30 and E37, induced agglutination of intact chloroplasts. In addition, immunofluorescence experiments demonstrated that only antibodies to E10 and E24, but not antibodies to E30 and E37, gave a green fluorescence at the outer surface of intact chloroplasts. These experiments demonstrate that E10 and E24, and probably all the thermolysin-sensitive envelope polypeptides, are accessible from the cytosolic side of the outer membrane of the chloroplast envelope.

Chloroplasts↗
PubMed1983

Excretion of laccase by sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) cells. Purification and properties of the enzyme.

A laccase-type polyphenol oxidase is excreted by sycamore cells (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) cells. The enzyme has been purified by classical purification techniques. It is a blue copper protein of Mr 97 000, containing 45% carbohydrate and 0.24% copper. This protein consists of one single unit and the copper content corresponds to four copper atoms per protein molecule. The specific activity of the purified extracellular sycamore-cell laccase measured at pH 6.6 (optimum pH) and in the presence of 20mM-4-methhylcatechol (optimum substrate conditions) corresponded to an oxygen uptake of 32 000 nmol of O2/min per mg of protein. Under these conditions, the catalytic-centre activity of the enzyme reached 100 s-1. The excretion of laccase by sycamore cells is significant, being about 2% of the total protein synthesized by the cells during the exponential phase of growth, and is independent of cell growth. The physiological significance and the problems raised by the passage of this protein across the cytoplasmic membrane are discussed.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1983

Relationship between the cytoplasm and the vacuole phosphate pool in Acer pseudoplatanus cells.

The Pi concentration of Acer pseudoplatanus cells in the two major intracellular compartments, the cytoplasm and the vacuole, has been studied using 31P NMR. For sycamore cells containing approximately 2 mM of total Pi, the cytoplasmic Pi and the vacuolar Pi concentrations were approximately 6 and 1.5 mM, respectively. When the cells were transferred to a phosphate-deficient medium, the vacuolar Pi decreased rapidly while the cytoplasmic Pi decreased slowly during the first 48 h, indicating that Pi in the cytoplasm was maintained at the expense of the vacuolar Pi. When the Pi-starved cells (i.e., those containing less than 0.5 mumol of total Pi/g wet wt) were transferred to a medium containing 300 microM Pi, Pi entered the cells rapidly and accumulated in the cytoplasm. Once the cytoplasmic Pi pool was filled, Pi was taken up in the vacuole until the vacuole Pi pool was filled. On the contrary when the non-Pi-starved cells were transferred to a phosphate-rich medium (i.e., containing 45 mM Pi), Pi entered the cells slowly by diffusion and accumulated in the vacuole but not in the cytoplasm. These results demonstrate that the Pi content of the cytoplasm is maintained at the expense of the vacuolar Pi pool when sycamore cells are transferred to either a phosphate-deficient or a phosphate-rich medium.

Cell Compartmentation↗
PubMed1983

Mechanisms of citrate oxidation by percoll-purified mitochondria from potato tuber.

The mechanisms and accurate control of citrate oxidation by Percoll-purified potato (Solanum tuberosum) tuber mitochondria were characterized in various metabolic conditions by recording time course evolution of the citric acid cycle related intermediates and O(2) consumption. Intact potato tuber mitochondria showed good rates of citrate oxidation, provided that nonlimiting amounts of NAD(+) and thiamine pyrophosphate were present in the matrix space. Addition of ATP increased initial oxidation rates, by activation of the energy-dependent net citrate uptake, and stimulated succinate and malate formation. When the intramitochondrial NADH to NAD(+) ratio was high, alpha-ketoglutarate only was excreted from the matrix space. After addition of ADP, aspartate, or oxaloacetate, which decreased the NADH to NAD(+) ratio, flux rates through the Krebs cycle dehydrogenases were strongly increased and alpha-ketoglutarate, succinate, and malate accumulated up to steady-state concentrations in the reaction medium. It was concluded that NADH to NAD(+) ratio could be the primary signal for coordination of fluxes through electron transport chain or malate dehydrogenase and NAD(+)-linked Krebs cycle dehydrogenases. In addition, these results clearly showed that the tricarboxylic acid cycle could serve as an important source of carbon skeletons for extra-mitochondrial synthetic processes, according to supply and demand of metabolites.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

Exogenous NAD Effects on Plant Mitochondria: A Reinvestigation of the Transhydrogenase Hypothesis.

Addition of NAD(+) to purified potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) mitochondria respiring alpha-ketoglutarate and malate in the presence of the electron transport inhibitor rotenone, stimulated O(2) uptake. This stimulation was prevented by incubating mitochondria with N-4-azido-2-nitrophenyl-aminobutyryl-NAD(+) (NAP(4)-NAD(+)), an inhibitor of NAD(+) uptake, but not by 1 mm EGTA, an inhibitor of external NADH oxidation. NAD(+)-stimulated malate-cytochrome c reductase activity, and reduction of added NAD(+) by intact mitochondria, could be duplicated by rupturing the mitochondria and adding a small quantity to the cuvette. The extent of external NAD(+) reduction was correlated with the amount of extra mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase present. Malate oxidation by potato mitochondria depleted of endogenous NAD(+) by storing on ice for 72 hours, was completely dependent on added NAD(+), and the effect of NAD(+) on these mitochondria was prevented by incubating them with NAP(4)-NAD(+). External NAD(+) reduction by these mitochondria was not affected by NAP(4)-NAD(+). We conclude that all effects of exogenous NAD(+) on plant mitochondrial respiration can be attributed to net uptake of the NAD(+) into the matrix space.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1982

Effects of kaempferol on the oxidative properties of intact plant mitochondria.

The effects of kaempferol on the oxidative and phosphorylative properties of plant mitochondria from potato tubers and etiolated mung bean (Phaseolus aureus Roxb.) hypocotyls were investigated. Kaempferol inhibited the state 3 oxidation rate of malate, NADH, and succinate, but was without effect on the ascorbate-tetramethyl p-phenylenediamine oxidation rate. The inhibition was almost the same whether the mitochondria were in state 3 or in an uncoupled state 3. When 180 micromolar kaempferol was added during state 4, the tight coupling of succinate or NADH oxidation was not released. The results obtained indicate that kaempferol inhibits the mitochondrial electron flow at, or just after, the flavoprotein site.

Journal Article↗