The tiron free radical as a sensitive indicator of chloroplastic photoautoxidation.

Wheat chloroplasts photochemically reduced molecular oxygen, as a Hill oxidant in the Mehler reaction, to superoxide anion which then oxidized added 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate to its semiquinone, a comparatively stable free radical at pH 7. The last mentioned reaction was rapid in aqueous solution, but the rate of formation of 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate semiquinone by the chloroplast system was calculated as T1 of 0.6 s. The Mehler reaction, or more specifically the univalent reduction of oxygen by Photosystem I, was rate-limiting so that the 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate seniquinone was a useful spin probe for superoxide anion production at room temperature. The ESR signal of 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate semiquinone was proportional to its steady state concentration and decayed in the dark with a T1/2 of 5-6 s. This oxygen-dependent signal was enhanced by mediation of chloroplastic oxygen reduction through methyl viologen. The superoxide anion scavengers ascorbate and L-epinephrine competitively obscured 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate semiquinone formation, butadded superoxide dismutase was not as effective in this role. Partial inhibition by superoxide dismutase was achieved only by preincubation of Photosystem I enriched particles with ten times the endogenous concentration of superoxide dismutase. This and the persistence of a small amount of a 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate (Tiron) oxidizing species in the dark supports the concept of Tiron accessibility but not the superoxide dismutase accessibility of superoxide anion bound in its formative enzyme complex. Benzoquinone and naphthoquinone disulfonate also reacted with superoxide anion, and supported both the Hill reaction and the Mehler reaction as final oxidants of both water and superoxide anion.     

Changes in the net charge and subunit properties of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase--oxygenase during cold hardening of Puma rye.

Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase--oxygenase (RUBPCase) from leaves of cold-hardened and unhardened Puma rye was purified by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. The specific activity of the hardened form was twice that of the unhardened form. A difference in charge between the two forms of this enzyme was proved by gel electrofocussing. The estimated isoelectric point (pI) values were 6.4 and 6.3 for the enzyme from the hardened and unhardened source respectively. The large subunit (55,000 molecular weight) of the enzyme from only the unhardened source formed at apparent dimer during sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gel electrophoresis. At pH 6,8 it was also the source of an anomalous polypeptide with an apparent molecular weight of 47,000. This anomalous polypeptide appeared in both hardened and unhardened preparations after irreversible inactivation of RUBPCase activity by NaCl. It also appeared after preparation of the purified enzymes for SDS--PAGE in the absence of beta-mercaptoethanol, but this was reversible. The enzyme from the hardened source was less affected in the absence of reducing agent. Structural evidence was obtained for the previously reported cold hardening of the enzyme against freeze inactivation. A freeze-thaw cycle applied to the enzyme in vitro caused some polymerization of the large subunit and its anomalous polypeptide, in the absence of reducing agent, especially in the unhardened case. This increased with repeated cycles until the fifth cycle when the large subunit monomer and its satellite were abolished only in preparations from the unhardened source. These data indicate that the large subunit is a probable site of change that occurred in this enzyme during cold hardening.     

Utilization of carbon and nitrogen reserves of alfalfa roots in supporting N2-fixation and shoot regrowth

Perennial legume such as alfalfa have the capacity to sustain shoot regrowth and some nodule N₂-fixation after removal (cutting) of shoots which contain practically all of the plant's photosynthetic capacity. The role of the roots in supporting these processes has not been fully described. Measurements were made of the nodules' responses to removal of shoots from 8-week-old seedlings in terms of N₂-fixation, as nitrogenase activity (NA) measured as acetylene reduction, dark CO₂ fixation, measured as in vitro phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) activity, and total non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) content. These properties decreased and recovered in that sequence, which suggests that nodule NSC supported the substrate requirements of NA and PEPC immediately after cutting. The utilization and redistribution or root carbon and nitrogen, prelabeled with ¹⁴C and ¹⁵N, were also followed after cutting 8-week-old alfalfa seedlings. In the first 2 weeks of regrowth 12% of root C and 25% of root N were transferred for incorporation into new shoots. Up to 40% of the root C was used for plant respiration to support 28 days of shoot regrowth and N₂-fixation. The decline of N₂-fixation was slower after cutting and its minimum activity rose up 45% of pre-cut activity as root reserves were built up with plant age. Therefore, the stored reserves of nodulated roots play an important role in support of N₂-fixation after cutting.Contribution No. 1265 from Plant Research Center.Contribution No. 1265 from Plant Research Center.     

Properties of microtubule sliding disintegration in isolated tetrahymena cilia

Properties of the sliding disintegration response of demembranated tetrahymena cilia have been studied by measuring the spectrophotomeric response or turbidity of cilia suspensions at a wavelength of 350 nm relative to changes in the dynein substrate (MgATP(2-)) concentration. The maximum decrease in turbidity occurs in 20 muM ATP, and 90 percent of the decrease occurs in approximately 5.9 s. At lower ATP concentrations (1-20 muM), both the velocity and magnitude of the turbidity decreases are proportional to ATP concentration. The velocity data for 20 muM ATP permit construction of a reaction velocity curve suggesting that changes in turbidity are directly proportional to the extent and velocity of disintegration. At ATP concentrations more than 20 muM (50muM to 5mM), both velocity and magnitude of the turbidimetric response are reduced by approximately 50 percent. This apparent inhibition results in a biphasic response curve that may be related to activation of residual shear resistance or regulatory components at the higher ATP concentrations. The inhibitory effects of elevated ATP can be eliminated by mild trypsin proteolysis, whereupon the reaction goes to completion at any ATP concentration. The turbidimetric responses of the axoneme-substrate suspensions are consistent with the extent and type of axoneme disintegration revealed by electron microscope examination of the various suspensions, suggesting that the turbidimetric assay may prove to be a reliable means for assessing the state of axoneme integrity.     

The Tiron free radical as a sensitive indicator of chloroplastic photoautoxidation

Wheat chloroplasts photochemically reduced molecular oxygen, as a Hill oxidant in the Mehler reaction, to superoxide anion which then oxidized added 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate to its semiquinone, a comparatively stable free radical at pH 7. The last mentioned reaction was rapid in aqueous solution, but the rate of formation of 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate semiquinone by the chloroplast system was calculated as a $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ of 0.6 s. The Mehler reaction, or more specifically the univalent reduction of oxygen by Photosystem I, was rate-limiting so that the 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate semiquinone was a useful spin probe for superoxide anion production at room temperature. The ESR signal of 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate semiquinone was proportional to its steady state concentration and decayed in the dark with a $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ of 5–6 s. This oxygen-dependent signal was enhanced by mediation of chloroplastic oxygen reduction through methyl viologen. The superoxide anion scavengers ascorbate and l-epinephrine competitively obscured 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate semiquinone formation, but added superoxide dismutase was not as effective in this role. Partial inhibition by superoxide dismutase was achieved only by preincubation of Photosystem I enriched particles with ten times the endogenous concentration of superoxide dismutase. This and the persistence of a small amount of a 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate (Tiron) oxidizing species in the dark supports the concept of Tiron accessibility but not the superoxide dismutase accessibility of superoxide anion bound in its formative enzyme complex. Benzoquinone and naphthoquinone disulfonate also reacted with superoxide anion, and supported both the Hill reaction and the Mehler reaction as final oxidants of both water and superoxide anion.     

Simple photometric auxanometers of high sensitivity

The elongation phase of growth of plant parts, as 1-cm segments excised from wheat coleoptiles here, is very simply recorded photometrically. One or more aligned segments submerged in aerated buffer pushed an Al foil shutter over a slit of light incident on a photodetector such as a solar or photronic cell, connected directly to a recorder, or a photomultiplier tube in a commercial photometer. Convenient kinetic records were obtained at 5 mm per min chart speed when one segment was combined with a 1-mm long slit, or more segments and longer slits, for which a 1-mm chart unit usually exceeded noise and was equivalent to 4 mum growth per cm coleoptile. In the presence of 10 cm of coleoptile segments no replenishment of solution was necessary during kinetic measurements of response in a 50-ml reservoir of IAA more concentrated than 30 nm.     

The effects of low temperature acclimation of winter rye on catalytic properties of its ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase.

A comparison was made of the kinetics of the carboxylation reaction of bicarbonate-magnesium-activated ribulose biphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase purified from cold-hardened and unhardened winter rye (Secale cereale L. cv. Puma). The activity of the (NH4)2SO4-precipitated enzyme from hardened plants was stable at -20 degrees C for a month, whereas the form from unhardened plants was reversibly cold inactivated. The KmCO2 of the unhardened form increased more rapidly with decreasing pH below 8.2, but the estimated pKa of chemical groups associated with the active site was not affected by the cold hardening. The temperature dependencies of the KmCO2 of the two forms of the enzyme crossed at 10 degrees C with the effect that the catalysis of carboxylation by ribulose biphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase from Puma rye was most efficient in the temperature range to which the plants had been adapted.