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T Boller

Publications and source records attributed to T Boller.

96 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Hydrolytic enzymes in the central vacuole of plant cells.

The hydrolase content of vacuoles isolated from protoplasts of suspension-cultured tobacco cells, of tulip petals, and of pineapple leaves, and the sedimentation behavior of tobacco tonoplasts were studied. Three precautions were found to be important for the analysis of vacuolar hydrolases and of the tonoplast. (a) Purification of protoplasts in a Ficoll gradient was necessary to remove cell debris which contained contaminating hydrolases adsorbed from the fungal cell-wall-degrading enzyme preparation. (b) Hydrolase activities in the homogenates of the intact cells or the tissue used and of the purified protoplasts had to be compared to verify the absence of contaminating hydrolases in the protoplast preparation. (c) Vacuoles obtained from the protoplasts by an osmotic shock had to be purified from the lysate in a Ficoll gradient. Since the density of the central vacuole approximates that of the protoplasts, about a 10% contamination of the vacuolar preparation by surviving protoplasts could not be eliminated and had to be taken into account when the distribution of enzymes and of radioactivity was calculated.THE INTRACELLULAR ACTIVITIES OF THE FOLLOWING ACID HYDROLASES WERE PRIMARILY LOCALIZED IN THE VACUOLE OF TOBACCO CELLS: alpha-mannosidase, beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, beta-fructosidase, nuclease, phosphatase, phosphodiesterase. A similar composition of acid hydrolases was found in vacuoles obtained from protoplasts of tulip petals. Proteinase, a hydrolase with low activity in tobacco cells and tulip petals and therefore difficult to localize unequivocally, was found to be vacuolar in pineapple leaves, a tissue containing high levels of this enzyme. Our data support the hypothesis that the central vacuole of higher plant cells has an enzyme composition analogous to that of the animal lysosome.None of the vacuolar enzymes investigated was found to be bound to the tonoplast. When vacuoles were isolated from cells labeled with radioactive choline, the vacuolar membrane was found to contain radioactivity. On sucrose gradients, the label incorporated into tonoplasts banded around a density of 1.10 grams per cubic centimeter (24% sucrose, w/w).

Journal Article↗

Localization of polyphosphate in vacuoles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Virtually all of the polyphosphate (PP) present in yeast protoplasts can be recovered in a crude particulate fraction if polybase-induced lysis is used for disrupting the protoplasts. This fraction contains most of the vacuoles, mitochondria and nuclei. Upon the purification of vacuoles the PP is enriched to the same extent as are the vacuolar markers. The amount of PP per vacuole is comparable to the amount of PP per protoplast. The possibility that PP is located in the cell wall is also considered. In the course of the incubation necessary for preparing protoplasts, 20% of the cellular PP is broken down. As this loss of PP occurs to the same extent in the absence of cell wall degrading enzymes, it is inferred that internal PP is metabolically degraded, no PP being located in the cell walls. It is concluded that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae most if not all of the PP is located in the vacuoles, at least under the growth conditions used.

Cell Wall↗

Asymmetric distribution of concanavalin A binding sites on yeast plasmalemma and vacuolar membrane.

Isolated vacuoles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae did not bind Concanavalin A (labelled with tritium or with a fluorescent dye) unless the vacuoles were rendered permeable and their inner membrane surface made accessible. Yeast protoplasts, on the other hand, bound large amounts of Concanavalin A on their surface, and the number of binding sites was not increased after a gentle lysis expected to expose also the inner surface of the plasmalemma. It is concluded that both the plasmalemma and the vacuolar membrane carry Concanavalin A binding sites exclusively on the surface opposite to the cytoplasmic matrix.

Binding Sites, Antibody↗

Polybase induced lysis of yeast spheroplasts. A new gentle method for preparation of vacuoles.

The polybasic macromolecules DEAE-dextran (diethylaminoethyl-dextran, molecular weight 500000) and poly-DL-lysine (molecular weight 30000-70000) were absorbed with a high affinity by spheroplasts of Candida utilis and subsequently, induced lysis. The extent of lysis of spheroplasts and of the liberated vacuoles was studied under various conditions using alpha-glucosidase activity and soluble arginine as cytoplasmic and vacuolar markers, respectively. Adsorption of polybases was rapidly completed even at 0 degrees C; however, with small doses, lysis was poor at 0-12 degrees C and extensive at temperatures above 12 degrees C. This permitted the completion of adsorption before initiating lysis. The purified vacuoles were also sensitive to polybases though less so than the spheroplasts; however, after lysis of spheroplasts the liberated vacuoles were well protected against the action of polybases. A treatment with polybases which disrupted more than 99% of the spheroplasts left at least 70% of the vacuoles intact. Potassium chloride in high concentrations and calcium chloride in low concentrations inhibited polybase induced lysis of spheroplasts by preventing or even reversing the polybase adsorption. A polyacidic macromolecule, dextran sulfate, could prevent but not reverse the adsorption of polybase and subsequent lysis. Metabolic inhibitors reduced the susceptibility of spheroplasts to polybase induced lysis. Vacuoles isolated from polybase lysed spheroplasts still contained large pools of soluble amino acids, and their ability to transport arginine specifically is a further indication of their functional integrity.

Arginine↗

Characterization of a specific transport system for arginine in isolated yeast vacuoles.

The transport of L-arginine was studied in isolated vacuoles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A centrifugation method allowed rapid separation of the fragile vacuoles from the incubation media so that initial uptake rates of [14C]arginine could be measured. Labelled arginine added to the medium was accumulated in the isolated vacuoles; it was found to exchange specifically with the arginine already present in the vacuoles. Such an exchange did not take place in intact spheroplasts. The pH dependence of the arginine transport in the vacuoles was tested. As the vacuoles are unstable in the pH range of optimal transport activity (pH above 7.0), the pH optimum of the transport reaction could not be determined. From the temperature dependence, the apparent energy of activation was calculated to be 9800 cal/mol. Arginine transport shows saturation kinetics with an apparent Km of 30 muM in the isolated vacuoles, and of 1.5 muM in the spheroplasts. Competition experiments with amino acids and arginine analogues demonstrated that the arginine transport in both vacuoles and spheroplasts, is highly specific. The two systems, however, were shown to have distinct specificities. The inhibition of vacuolar L-arginine transport by D-arginine, L-histidine, and L-canavanine was competitive with apparent Ki values of 60 muM, 400 muM and 600 muM respectively.

Amino Acids↗