beta-Glucosidase Activity in Corn Roots: Problems in Subcellular Fractionation

Oligosaccharin and ABA synergistically affect the acquisition of freezing tolerance in winter wheat

In this paper, we continue our studies of the previously discovered [O.A. Zabotina, D.A. Ayupova, O.N. Larskaya, O.N. Nikolaeva, G.I. Petrovicheva, A.I. Zabotin, Physiologically active oligosaccharides, accumulating in the roots of winter wheat during adaptation to low temperature, Russian Journal of Plant Physiology 45 (1998) 262] oligosaccharin (physiologically active oligosaccharide) GXAG, which stimulates the acquisition of freezing tolerance in winter varieties of Triticum aestivum L. The transient accumulation of GXAG in the tissues of winter wheat correlates with the temporal activation of cell wall glycosidases during the first hours of cold acclimation (2 degrees C). This finding suggests that the oligosaccharin is liberated as a result of the intensification of hemicellulose turnover. At low concentrations, GXAG initiates the acquisition of freezing tolerance in winter plants, in a manner similar to ABA, even at room temperature. The resultant effect of ABA and GXAG on the freezing tolerance of winter wheat depends on the sequence of pre-treatments with these two factors. When seedlings are pre-treated with GXAG a few hours before treatment with ABA, the effect is synergistic, and its impact depends on the duration of pre-treatment with GXAG. When ABA is applied first, the resultant effect on freezing tolerance is additive. The results obtained here lead to the conclusion that oligosaccharin, accumulating during the first hours of cold acclimation, functions as a partner of ABA during the initiation of freezing tolerance acquisition in winter plants. We hypothesize that GXAG increases cell receptivity to ABA signaling.

Effects of solubilization on the inhibition of the p-type ATPase from maize roots by N-(ethoxycarbonyl)-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline

The biochemical events utilized by transport proteins to convert the chemical energy from the hydrolysis of ATP into an electro-chemical gradient are poorly understood. The inhibition of the plasma membrane ATPase from corn (Zea mays L.) roots by N-(ethoxycarbonyl)-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline (EEDQ) was compared to that of ATPase solubilized with N-tetradecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propane-sulfonate (3-14) to provide insight into the minimal functional unit. The chromatographic behavior of the 3-14-solubilized ATPase activity during size exclusion chromatography and glycerol gradient centrifugation indicated that the solubilized enzyme was in a monomeric form. Both plasma membrane-bound and solubilized ATPase were inhibited by EEDQ in a time- and concentration-dependent manner consistent with a first-order reaction. When the log of the reciprocal of the half-time for inhibition was plotted as a function of the log of the EEDQ concentration, straight lines were obtained with slopes of approximately 0.5 and 1.0 for membrane-bound and 3-14-solubilized ATPase, respectively, indicating a change in the number of polypeptides per functional ATPase complex induced by solubilization with 3-14.

Purification and Partial Characterization of Maize (Zea mays L.) beta-Glucosidase

Maize (Zea mays L.) beta-glucosidase (beta-d-glucoside glucohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.21) was extracted from the coleoptiles of 5- to 6-day-old maize seedlings with 50 millimolar sodium acetate, pH 5.0. The pH of the extract was adjusted to 4.6, and most of the contaminating proteins were cryoprecipitated at 0 degrees C for 24 hours. The pH 4.6 supernatant from cryoprecipitation was further fractionated by chromatography on an Accell CM column using a 4.8 to 6.8 pH gradient of 50 millimolar sodium acetate, which yielded the enzyme in two homogeneous, chromatographically different fractions. Purified enzyme was characterized with respect to subunit molecular weight, isoelectric point, amino acid composition, NH(2)-terminal amino acid sequence, pH and temperature optima, thermostability, and activity and stability in the presence of selected reducing agents, metal ions, and alkylating agents. The purified enzyme has an estimated subunit molecular mass of 60 kilodaltons, isoelectric point at pH 5.2, and pH and temperature optima at 5.8 and 50 degrees C, respectively. The amino acid composition data indicate that the enzyme is rich in Glx and Asx, the sum of which approaches 25%. The sequence of the first 20 amino acids in the N-terminal region was H(2)N-Ser-Ala-Arg-Val-Gly-Ser-Gln-Asn-Gly-Val-Gln-Met-Leu-Ser-Pro-(Ser?) -Glu-Ile-Pro-Gln, and it shows no significant similarity to other proteins with known sequence. The enzyme is extremely stable at 0 to 4 degrees C up to 1 year but loses activity completely at and above 55 degrees C in 10 minutes. Likewise, the enzyme is stable in the presence of or after treatment with 500 millimolar 2-mercaptoethanol, and it is totally inactivated at 2000 millimolar 2-mercaptoethanol. Such metal ions as Hg(2+) and Ag(+) reversibly inhibit the enzyme at micromolar concentrations, and inhibition could be completely overcome by adding 2-mercaptoethanol at molar excess of the inhibitory metal ion. The alkylating agents iodoacetic acid and iodoacetamide irreversibly inactivate the enzyme and such inactivation is accelerated in the presence of urea.

Effects of temperature on the coupled activities of the vanadate-sensitive proton pump from maize root microsomes

The mechanism by which proton transport is coupled to ATP hydrolysis by vanadate-sensitive pumps is poorly understood. The effects of temperature on the activities of the vanadate-sensitive ATPase from maize (Zea mays) roots were assessed to provide insight into the coupling mechanism. The initial rate of proton transport had a bell-shaped dependence on temperature with an optimal range between 20 and 30 degrees C. However, the rate of vanadate-sensitive ATP hydrolysis increased as the temperature was raised from 4 to 43 degrees C. The differential sensitivity of proton transport to temperatures above 30 degrees C was also observed when the ATPase was reconstituted into dioleoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles. Inhibition of proton transport with temperatures above 30 degrees C was associated with higher rates of proton leakage from the membranes. In addition, proton transport was more inhibited than ATP hydrolysis at temperatures below 10 degrees C. Reduced rates of proton transport at lower temperatures were not associated with higher rate of proton conductivity across the membranes. Therefore, the preferential inhibition of proton transport at temperatures below 10 degrees C may reflect an effect of temperature on the coupling between proton transport and ATP hydrolysis within the vanadate-sensitive ATPase.

N-Cyclo-N'-(4-Dimethylamino-alpha-Naphthyl)Carbodiimide Inhibits Membrane-Bound and Partially Purified Tonoplast ATPase from Maize Roots

Certain carboxylic acid groups within the primary structure of proton translocating proteins are thought to be involved in the proton pathway. In this report, the effects of a lipophilic carboxylic acid reactive reagent, N-cyclo-N'(4-dimethylamino-alpha-naphthyl)carbodiimide (NCD-4), on the two types of proton pumps in maize (Zea mays L.) root microsomes were investigated. NCD-4 was found to inhibit the vacuolar-type H(+)-ATPase in microsomal preparations; however, the plasma membrane-type H(+)-ATPase was unaffected. The H(+)-ATPase in highly purified tonoplast vesicles was also inhibited by NCD-4. Inhibition was dependent on the concentration and length of exposure to the reagent. However, there was little, if any, increase in the fluorescence of treated vesicles, indicating few carboxylic acid residues were reacting. Inhibition of the tonoplast H(+)-ATPase by NCD-4 was examined further with a partially purified preparation. The partially purified H(+)-ATPase also showed sensitivity to the NCD-4, supporting the hypothesis that this carboxylic acid reagent is an inhibitor of the tonoplast ATPase from maize roots.

Evidence for and subcellular localization of a ca-stimulated phospholipase d from maize roots

Autolytic lipid changes in corn (Zea mays L.) root crude homogenates and isolated membranes were examined by the use of high performance thin-layer chromatography. In the absence of added CaCl(2), losses in phosphatidylcholine and other phospholipids corresponds to increase in fatty acids without the accumulation of either phosphatidic acid or lyso-phosphatidylcholine. However, in the presence of 1 millimolar CaCl(2), phosphatidylcholine concentrations declined more rapidly with an immediate increase in phoshatidic acid, and slower rate of fatty acid accumulation. Autolytic phospholipid degradation yielded primarily free fatty acids in the absence of Ca and phosphatidic acid in the presence of 1 millimolar CaCl(2), suggesting the presence of an acyl hydrolase and phospholipase D activities. Differential centrifugation studies indicate that 50 to 80% of the crude homogenate's phospholipase D activity is membrane-bound. Density centrifugation experiments suggest that the membrane-bound phospholipase D activity is localized primarily on mitochondrial membranes.

Temperature dependence and mercury inhibition of tonoplast-type H+-ATPase

The effects of changing temperature on ATP hydrolysis and proton pumping associated with the H+-ATPase of tonoplast membrane vesicles isolated from the maize root microsomal fraction were determined. In the range 5 to 45 degrees C, the maximal initial rate of ATP hydrolysis obeyed a simple Arrhenius model and the activation energy determined was approximately 14 kcal/mol. On the other hand, the initial proton pumping rate showed a bell-shaped temperature dependence, with maximum activity around 25 degrees C. Lineweaver-Burke analysis of the activities showed that the Km of ATP hydrolysis, unlike that of proton pumping, was relatively insensitive to temperature changes. Detailed kinetic analysis of the proton pumping process showed that the increase in membrane leakage to protons during the pumping stage constituted a major reason for the decreased transport. Nitrate-sensitive ATPase activities of the tonoplast vesicles were found to be inhibited by the presence of micromolar concentrations of Hg2+. The proton pumping process was more sensitive to the presence of Hg2+. Double-reciprocal analysis of kinetic data indicated that Hg2+ was a noncompetitive inhibitor of proton pumping but was an uncompetitive inhibitor of ATP hydrolysis. Further kinetic analysis of Hg2+ effects revealed that the lower proton transport did not result from enhanced membrane leakage but rather from reduced coupling between H+ pumping and ATP hydrolysis.

Factors associated with the instability of nitrate-insensitive proton transport by maize root microsomes

Proton transport catalyzed by the nitrate-insensitive, vanadate-sensitive H(+)-ATPase in microsomes from maize (Zea mays L.) roots washed with 0.25 molar KI decreased as a function of time at 0 to 4 degrees C. The rate of proton transport was approximately one-half of that by freshly isolated microsomes after 6 to 18 hours of cold storage. The decrease in proton transport coincided with losses in membrane phosphatidylcholine and was not associated with a change in vanadate-sensitive ATP hydrolysis. A technique based on a protocol developed for the reconstitution of Neurospora crassa plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase (DS Perlin, K Kasamo, RJ Brooker, CW Slayman 1984 J Biol Chem 259: 7884-7892) was employed to restore proton transport activity to maize microsomes. These results indicated that the decline in proton transport by maize root membranes during cold storage was not due to degradation of the protein moiety of the H(+)-ATPase, but was due to the loss of phospholipids.

Proton pumping kinetics and origin of nitrate inhibition of tonoplast-type H+-ATPase

A tonoplast-type vesicle preparation, substantially free from other subcellular membranes, was obtained from corn roots by equilibrium sucrose density gradient centrifugation. At pH 6.5 and in the presence of chloride ions, the tonoplast-type ATPase activity as measured by Pi release, was inhibited by nitrate ions. The ATPase activity was insensitive to molybdate and vanadate, indicating a minimum nonspecific phosphatase and plasma membrane contamination. The vesicles exhibited an ATP hydrolysis-supported proton uptake which was measured by the absorption change of acridine orange. The ATP hydrolysis supported uptake and the subsequent perturbant-induced release of protons (decay) was described by a kinetic model which was previously developed to evaluate the coupling between proton pumping and the primary energy yielding process for other biomembranes. The proton pumping activity was more sensitive to nitrate ions then was ATP hydrolysis. The differential effect and the kinetic analysis of nitrate inhibition led us to suggest that (i) the coupling between Pi release and proton pumping was indirect in nature and (ii) the primary inhibitory effect of nitrate ion was originated from an interaction with a protogenic protein domain which is functionally linked to the ATPase in the tonoplast-type membrane.