Concentrations of asparagine in tissues of prepubertal rats after enzymic or dietary depletion of asparagine (Short Communication)

Growth of weanling rats was significantly depressed after 8 days of asparagine depletion produced by dietary means or by asparaginase treatment. Moreover, the concentration of free asparagine was significantly lowered in forebrain, skeletal muscle, liver, kidney, spleen and small intestines 3 h after an asparaginase injection, but remained lowered only in forebrain and skeletal muscle after 8 days of enzymic or dietary depletion of asparagine.     

Use of enzymic preparations during diosgenine isolation from Dioscorea caucasica Lipsky]

The use of enzymic preparations of the cellulolytic and macerating effect was studied as applied to the isolation of diosgenine from rhizomes of Dioscorea caucasica Lypsky. The enzymic treatment of the steroid containing raw material prior to acid hydrolysis increased the yield of diosgenine by 30-48%. It is suggested that additional extraction of diosgenine takes place due to: 1) enzymic hydrolysis of structural polysaccharide components of the plant tissue and intercellular binding materials and 2) disintegration of glycoside bonds of saponins.     

Generation of active oxygen species during enzymic isolation of protoplasts from oat leaves

Summary Protoplasts were isolated from oat (Avena sativa L.) leaves by the combination of highly purified preparations of pectin lyase, xylanase, and cellulase C₁. During the enzymic isolation, superoxide radical (O ₋ ² ) was generated from the tissues. Both the protoplasts themselves and the cell walls, exposed to enzyme treatment, produced O ₋ ² . Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) apparently accumulated in the reaction mixture due to the spontaneous dismutation reaction of O ₋ ² , while a part of H₂O₂ may have been produced directly from cell walls by the action of enzymes. Singlet molecular oxygen (¹O₂) generated in the reaction mixture was detected by cholesterol oxidation in small unilamellar liposomes. It seems likely that¹O₂ may be generated by the peroxidase-H₂O₂-halide system during enzymic treatment of the leaves. The work was partially supported by the Research Project “Research and development of the improvement of bacterial and plant cells by cell fusion” of the Food and Agriculture Research and Development Association (Japan).     

The isolation of an aliphatic amidase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

A pilot-scale process for the isolation of an aliphatic, amidase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been developed. A constitutive, partially irrepressible mutant was employed to give a high initial enzyme concentration. An existing laboratory isolation procedure has been scaled up and modified particularly by substitution of polyethylene glycol for ammonium sulfate precipitation as the first stage in the conversion of the fractionation to continuous operation. Full recovery of activity was achieved with the modification. The recovery of enzyme from a subsequent chromatographic stage was 85% and the maximum overall purification was 28-fold.     

Purification and properties of an asparagine aminotransferase from Pisum sativum leaves

The enzyme responsible for the transamination of L-asparagine in pea leaves has been partially purified. It appears to be the same protein as the serine-glyoxylate aminotransferase. It is able to use serine or asparagine as amino donors and pyruvate or glyoxylate as amino acceptors. The reaction is reversible but the equilibrium is toward glycine or alanine production. The favored substrates are serine and glyoxylate: serine shows competitive inhibition toward asparagine, as does pyruvate toward glyoxylate. Substrate interaction and product inhibition patterns are consistent with a ping-pong mechanism. The enzyme has a pH optimum at 8.1. Gel filtration indicates a Mr of 105,000. Inhibition was caused by aminoxyacetate and hydroxylamine, but the enzyme was unaffected by isonicotinic acid hydrazide. The apoenzyme was resolved and was inactive: addition of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate restored 85% of the original activity.     

Identification of an asparagine amidohydrolase from the filarial parasite Dirofilaria immitis

The nematode cuticle is a complex extracellular structure which is secreted by an underlying syncytium of hypodermal cells. Recent studies have demonstrated that the cuticle of parasitic nematodes is a dynamic structure with important absorptive, secretory, and enzymatic activities. In addition, the cuticle serves as a protective barrier against the host. A 48-h third stage larval Dirofilaria immitis cDNA library was immunoscreened with sera raised against larval cuticles. One clone, L3MC4 that reacted strongly with the anti-cuticle antisera was sequenced. The composite cDNA sequence comprises 2073 bp coding for a full-length protein of 590 amino acids. GenBank analysis showed that DiAsp had significant similarity to a Caenorhabditis elegans gene-product (54% identity) and to other asparaginases at the amino acid level. Escherichia coli-expressed recombinant DiAsp (rDiAsp) catalysed the hydrolysis of asparagine to aspartate and ammonia. Antibodies raised against D. immitis larval cuticles reacted with rDiAsp in immunoblots. This is the first report of identification of a cDNA clone encoding an asparaginase enzyme from a parasitic nematode.     

The nucleotide sequence of asparagine tRNA from brewer's yeast

The nucleotide sequence of asparagine tRNA from brewer's yeast has been determined using postlabeling methods. The primary structure is as follows: pG-A-C-U-C-C-A-U-G-m2G-C-C-A-A-G-D-D-G-G-D-D-A-A-G-G-C-m2 2G- U-G-C-G-A-C-U-G-U-U -t6A-A-psi-C-G-C-A-A-G-A-D-m5C-G-U-G-A-G-T-psi-C-A-m1A-C-C-C-U-C-A-C-U-G -G-G-G- U -C-G-C-C-A. Its anticodon G-U-U can recognize the two codons for asparagine.     

The enzymic degradation of an alkali-soluble glucan from the cell walls of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

An alkali-soluble glucan from the cell walls of Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCYC1109 has been hydrolysed with a purified endo-(1 leads to 3)-beta-D-glucanase and an endo-(1 leads to 6)-beta-D-glucanase from Bacillus circulans WL-12. The products of enzyme action include various oligosaccharide and polysaccharide fractions which have been separated by gel filtration and characterized, giving new information on the fine structure of the glucan. The isolated cell walls have also been subjected to enzymic hydrolysis. The results suggest that part of the cell-wall mannan is held in place by a glucan component.