Protein degradation during yeast sporulation. Enzyme and cytochrome patterns.

The levels of several enzymes have been studied during sporulation of Saccharomyces cerevisia. The specific activities of ribonuclease and aminopeptidase I raised several-fold after transfer of the cells to sporulation medium, whereas the specific activities of phosphofructokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, tryptophan synthase and pyruvate decarboxylase were not significantly altered. The specific activities of NAD-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase, isocitrate lyase, malate dehydrogenase and fructose bisphosphatase all decreased from the onset of sporulation. The inactivation of these latter enzymes was inhibited by cycloheximide and by inhibitors of energy metabolism. Hexokinase, alcohol dehydrogenase and glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase were partially lost from the cells during the period of ascus maturation. None of the enzyme changes observed proved to be 'sporulation-specific' in that it occurred exclusively in sporulating diploid yeast cells. Therefore it is postulated that the meiotic events and the metabolic changes required for ascospore formation are under separate genetic control in this organism. During sporulation, the cellular content of cytochromes b, c, and aa3 was reduced to 20% or less of that present in vegetative derepressed cells. Since the relative percentage of total to cycloheximide-insensitive mitochondrial protein synthesis was not significantly altered throughout sporulation, and the pattern of mitochondrially synthesized polypeptides was rather similar both in vegetative and in sporulating cells, it appeared that not only degradation but also synthesis and therefore turnover of the mitochondrially coded polypeptides of cytochromes b and aa3 took place during sporulation. The activity ratio of cytochrome c oxidase to F1-ATPase in submitochondrial particles isolated from vegetative cells and from purified asci was almost identical. This indicates that the loss of membrane-bound mitochondrial cytochromes during sporulation is probably due to a nonselective degradation of inner mitochondrial membrane proteins.     

The malate dehydrogenase isoforms from Trypanosoma brucei: subcellular localization and differential expression in bloodstream and procyclic forms

Trypanosoma brucei procyclic forms possess three different malate dehydrogenase isozymes that could be separated by hydrophobic interaction chromatography and were recognized as the mitochondrial, glycosomal and cytosolic malate dehydrogenase isozymes. The latter is the only malate dehydrogenase expressed in the bloodstream forms, thus confirming that the expression of malate dehydrogenase isozymes is regulated during the T. brucei life cycle. To achieve further biochemical characterization, the genes encoding mitochondrial and glycosomal malate dehydrogenase were cloned on the basis of previously reported nucleotide sequences and the recombinant enzymes were functionally expressed in Escherichia coli cultures. Mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase showed to be more active than glycosomal malate dehydrogenase in the reduction of oxaloacetate; nearly 80% of the total activity in procyclic crude extracts corresponds to the former isozyme which also catalyzes, although less efficiently, the reduction of p-hydroxyphenyl-pyruvate. The rabbit antisera raised against each of the recombinant isozymes showed that the three malate dehydrogenases do not cross-react immunologically. Immunofluorescence experiments using these antisera confirmed the glycosomal and mitochondrial localization of glycosomal and mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase, as well as a cytosolic localization for the third malate dehydrogenase isozyme. These results clearly distinguish Trypanosoma brucei from Trypanosoma cruzi, since in the latter parasite a cytosolic malate dehydrogenase is not present and mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase specifically reduces oxaloacetate.     

Physiology and metabolism of pathogenic neisseria: tricarboxylic acid cycle activity in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Tricarboyxlic acid cycle activity was examined in Neisseria gonorrhoeae CS-7. The catabolism of glucose in N. gonorrheae by a combination of the Entner-Doudoroff and pentose phosphate pathways resulted in the accumulation of acetate, which was not further catabolized until the glucose was depleted or growth became limiting. Radiorespirometric studies revealed that the label in the 1 position of acetate was converted to CO2 at twice the rate of the label in the 2 position, indicating the presence of a tricarboxylic acid cycle. Growth on glucose markedly reduced the levels of all tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes except citrate synthase (EC 4.1.3.7). Extracts of glucose-grown cells contained detectable levels of all tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes except aconitase (EC 4.2.1.3), isocitrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.42), and a pyridine nucleotide-dependent malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37). Extracts of cells capable of oxidizing acetate lacked only the pyridine nucleotide-dependent malate dehydrogenase. In lieu of this enzyem, a particulate pyridine nucleotide-independent malate oxidase (EC 1.1.3.3) was present. This enzyme required flavin adenine dinucleotide for activity and appeared to be associated with the electron transport chain. Radiorespirometric studies utilizing labeled glutamate demonstrated that a portion of the tricarboxylic acid cycle functioned during glucose catabolism. In spite of the presence of all tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes, N. gonorrhoeae CS-7 was unable to grow in medium supplemented with cycle intermediates.     

Enzyme Pattern and Aerobic Growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Under Various Degrees of Glucose Limitation

The enzyme pattern of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was followed during batch growth and in continuous culture in a synthetic medium limited for glucose under aerobic conditions. Seven enzymes were measured: succinate-cytochrome c oxidoreductase, malate dehydrogenase, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-linked glutamate dehydrogenase, malate synthase, isocitrate lyase, aldolase, and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP(+))-linked glutamate dehydrogenase. During fermentation of glucose and high growth rate (mu) during the first log phase in batch experiments, the first five enzymes (group I) were repressed, and aldolase and NADP(+)-linked glutamate dehydrogenase (group II) were derepressed. During growth on the accumulated ethyl alcohol and lower mu, the group I enzymes were preferentially formed and the other two were repressed. A sequence of derepression of the group I enzymes was found during the shift from glucose to ethyl alcohol metabolism, which can be correlated with a strong increase in the percentage of single (nonbudding) cells in the population. A correlation between the state of cells in the budding cycle and enzyme repression and derepression is suggested. In continuous culture, the enzyme pattern was shown to be related to the growth rate. The group I enzymes were repressed at high growth rates, while the group II enzymes were derepressed. Each enzyme exhibits a different dependence. The enzyme pattern is shown to depend on the rate of substrate consumption as well as on the type of metabolism and to be correlated with the budding cycle. The enzyme pattern is considered to be controlled by changes of intracellular catabolic or metabolic conditions inherent in the division cycle.     

Regulation of the dicarboxylic acid part of the citric acid cycle in Bacillus subtilis.

The regulation of alpha-ketogluterate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, fumarase, malate dehydrogenase, and malic enzyme has been studied in Bacillus subitilis. The levels of these enzymes increase rapidly during late exponential phase in a complex medium and are maximal 1 to 2 h after the onset of sporulation. Regulation of enzyme synthesis has been studied in the wild type and different citric acid cycle mutants by adding various metabolites to the growth medium. Alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase is induced by glutamate or alpha-ketoglutarate; succinate dehydrogenase is repressed by malate; and fumarase and malic enzyme are induced by fumarate and malate, respectively. The addition of glucose leads to repression of the citric acid cycle enzymes whereas the level of malic enzyme is unaffected. Studies on the control of enzyme activities in vitro have shown that alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase are inhibited by oxalacetate. Enzyme activities are also influenced by the energy level, expressed as the energy charge of the adenylate pool. Isocitrate dehydrogenase, alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, and malic enzyme are inhibited at high energy charge values, whereas malate dehydrogenase is inhibited at low energy charge. A survey of the regulation of the citric acid cycle in B.subtilis, based on the present work and previously reported results, is presented and discussed.     

Developmental genetics of teleosts: a biochemical analysis of lake chubsucker ontogeny

Developing embryos of the lake chubsucker, Erimyzon sucetta, were analyzed with regard to both gross morphological changes and specific enzymatic changes from the unfertilized egg stage until some 3 weeks posthatching. Total activities of three enzymes—lactate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase—were determined throughout the course of development. Each of these different enzymes exhibited a different pattern of change during ontogeny. Electrophoretic analysis of qualitative changes in isozyme patterns was accomplished for these three enzymes and for α-amylase, glucosephosphate isomerase, mannosephosphate isomerase, creatine kinase, esterase, glutamate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, malate dehydrogenase, hexose diphosphatase, phosphoglucomutase, and phosphogluconate dehydrogenase. Many of the enzyme systems investigated exhibited rich patterns of ontogenetic change, while a few remained relatively unchanged throughout the interval studied. Several of the enzymes in particular metabolic pathways exhibited coincident changes suggestive of coordinate control. The appearance of several rather “tissue-specific” isozymes was closely correlated with the morphological and functional differentiation of these particular tissues or organs.     

The role of malate in ammonia assimilation in cotyledons of radish (Raphanus sativus L.)

The relationships between the metabolism of malate, nitrogen assimilation and biosynthesis of amino acids in response to different nitrogen sources (nitrate and ammonium) have been examined in cotyledons of radish (Raphanus sativus L.). Measurements of the activities of some key enzymes and pulse-chase experiments with [¹⁴C]malate indicate the operation of an anaplerotic pathway for malate, which is involved in the synthesis of glutamine during increased ammonia assimilation. It is most likely that the tricarboxylicacid cycle is supplied with carbon through entry of malate, formed via the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)-carboxylation pathway, when 2-oxoglutarate leaves the cycle to serve as precursor for an increased synthesis of glutamine via glutamate. This might occur predominantly in the cytosol via the activity of the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase (GS/GOGAT) cycle, the NADH-dependent GOGAT being the rate-limiting activity.Abbreviations DTT dithiothreitol - EDTA ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid - GDH glutamate dehydrogenase - GOGAT glutamate synthase (glutamine: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase) - GOT aspartate aminotransferase (glutamate: oxaloacetate transaminase) - GS glutamine synthetase - HPLC high-performance liquid chromatography - MCF extraction medium of methanol: chloroform: 7M formic acid, 12:5:3, by vol. - MDH malate dehydrogenase - MSO L-methionine, sulfoximine - PEPCase phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase - TLC thin-layer chromatography     

Enzymes of ammonia assimilation in hyphae and vesicles of Frankia sp. strain CpI1.

Frankia spp. are filamentous actinomycetes that fix N2 in culture and in actinorhizal root nodules. In combined nitrogen-depleted aerobic environments, nitrogenase is restricted to thick-walled spherical structures, Frankia vesicles, that are formed on short stalks along the vegetative hyphae. The activities of the NH4(+)-assimilating enzymes (glutamine synthetase [GS], glutamate synthase, glutamate dehydrogenase, and alanine dehydrogenase) were determined in cells grown on NH4+ and N2 and in vesicles and hyphae from N2-fixing cultures separated on sucrose gradients. The two frankial GSs, GSI and GSII, were present in vesicles at levels similar to those detected in vegetative hyphae from N2-fixing cultures as shown by enzyme assay and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Glutamate synthase, glutamate dehydrogenase, and alanine dehydrogenase activities were restricted to the vegetative hyphae. Vesicles apparently lack a complete pathway for assimilating ammonia beyond the glutamine stage.     

Intracellular localization of enzymes in white-adipose-tissue fat-cells and permeability properties of fat-cell mitochondria. Transfer of acetyl units and reducing power between mitochondria and cytoplasm

1. A method is described for extracting separately mitochondrial and extramitochondrial enzymes from fat-cells prepared by collagenase digestion from rat epididymal fat-pads. The following distribution of enzymes has been observed (with the total activities of the enzymes as units/mg of fat-cell DNA at 25 degrees C given in parenthesis). Exclusively mitochondrial enzymes: glutamate dehydrogenase (1.8), NAD-isocitrate dehydrogenase (0.5), citrate synthase (5.2), pyruvate carboxylase (3.0); exclusively extramitochondrial enzymes: glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (5.8), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (5.2), NADP-malate dehydrogenase (11.0), ATP-citrate lyase (5.1); enzymes present in both mitochondrial and extramitochondrial compartments: NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase (3.7), NAD-malate dehydrogenase (330), aconitate hydratase (1.1), carnitine acetyltransferase (0.4), acetyl-CoA synthetase (1.0), aspartate aminotransferase (1.7), alanine aminotransferase (6.1). The mean DNA content of eight preparations of fat-cells was 109mug/g dry weight of cells. 2. Mitochondria showing respiratory control ratios of 3-6 with pyruvate, about 3 with succinate and P/O ratios of approaching 3 and 2 respectively have been isolated from fat-cells. From studies of rates of oxygen uptake and of swelling in iso-osmotic solutions of ammonium salts, it is concluded that fat-cell mitochondria are permeable to the monocarboxylic acids, pyruvate and acetate; that in the presence of phosphate they are permeable to malate and succinate and to a lesser extent oxaloacetate but not fumarate; and that in the presence of both malate and phosphate they are permeable to citrate, isocitrate and 2-oxoglutarate. In addition, isolated fat-cell mitochondria have been found to oxidize acetyl l-carnitine and, slowly, l-glycerol 3-phosphate. 3. It is concluded that the major means of transport of acetyl units into the cytoplasm for fatty acid synthesis is as citrate. Extensive transport as glutamate, 2-oxoglutarate and isocitrate, as acetate and as acetyl l-carnitine appears to be ruled out by the low activities of mitochondrial aconitate hydratase, mitochondrial acetyl-CoA hydrolyase and carnitine acetyltransferase respectively. Pathways whereby oxaloacetate generated in the cytoplasm during fatty acid synthesis by ATP-citrate lyase may be returned to mitochondria for further citrate synthesis are discussed. 4. It is also concluded that fat-cells contain pathways that will allow the excess of reducing power formed in the cytoplasm when adipose tissue is incubated in glucose and insulin to be transferred to mitochondria as l-glycerol 3-phosphate or malate. When adipose tissue is incubated in pyruvate alone, reducing power for fatty acid, l-glycerol 3-phosphate and lactate formation may be transferred to the cytoplasm as citrate and malate.     

Patterns of Protein Synthesis in Lolium temulentum (L.): I. CHANGES OCCURRING DURING LEAF DEVELOPMENT

The course of amino-acid incorporation was followed during successivephases of leaf development in third and fifth leaves of Loliumtemulentum(L.) growing under 8- and 16-h photoperiods. Threepeak periods of protein synthesis were recognized during thelife span of the leaf. The first coincided with leaf expansionand reflected the formation of photosynthetic enzymes whilethe second occurred in the fully expanded leaf and was associatedwith increases in alanine aminotransferase, malate dehydrogenase,and peroxidase. A third incorporation maximum coincided withthe onset of senescence, possibly representing the elaborationor release of degradative enzymes. The positioning of the firstand third protein-synthesis peaks was sensitive to photoperiodbut the second maximum tended to occur at a fixed point afterleaf emergence. Changes during the ‘greening-up’of etiolated leaves are also described. An over-all correlation coefficient of +0.81 was obtained forthe relationship between chlorophyll content and alanine aminotransferaseactivity. The data are discussed in relation to the existenceof pre-programmed sequences in leaf development.     

Metabolism of [3-13C]pyruvate in TCA cycle mutants of yeast.

The utilization of pyruvate and acetate by Saccharomyces cerevisiae was examined using 13C and 1H NMR methodology in intact wild-type yeast cells and mutant yeast cells lacking Krebs tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes. These mutant cells lacked either mitochondrial (NAD) isocitrate dehydrogenase (NAD-ICDH1),alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (alpha KGDC), or mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (MDH1). These mutant strains have the common phenotype of being unable to grow on acetate. [3-13C]-Pyruvate was utilized efficiently by wild-type yeast with the major intermediates being [13C]glutamate, [13C]acetate, and [13C]alanine. Deletion of any one of these Krebs TCA cycle enzymes changed the metabolic pattern such that the major synthetic product was [13C]galactose instead of [13C]glutamate, with some formation of [13C]acetate and [13C]alanine. The fact that glutamate formation did not occur readily in these mutants despite the metabolic capacity to synthesize glutamate from pyruvate is difficult to explain. We discuss the possibility that these data support the metabolon hypothesis of Krebs TCA cycle enzyme organization.     

Sporulation in Bacillis subtilis. Biochemical changes

1. During the course of growth and sporulation of Bacillus subtilis in chemically defined media, measurements were made of 16 different parameters, including the specific activities of nine intracellular enzymes. 2. Towards the end of exponential growth, proteolytic activity increased and reached a maximum soon after growth ceased. 3. In the presence of an excess of phosphate the specific activity of alkaline phosphatase increased fivefold at the end of exponential growth. 4. The specific activity of malate dehydrogenase remained at a high constant level throughout sporulation, but the specific activity of fumarase showed a two- to three-fold increase 5–9hr. after the end of exponential growth. 5. Aconitase activity was barely detectable during exponential growth in a glucose–glutamate medium, but increased rapidly when glutamate was replaced by citrate or when the glucose in the medium was exhausted. 6. The specific activity of alanine dehydrogenase increased threefold 1–5hr. after the end of exponential growth. 7. The specific activity of soluble NADH oxidase doubled 4–6hr. after the end of exponential growth. 8. Glucose dehydrogenase was undetectable until 4hr. after the end of exponential growth, but its specific activity increased 20-fold over the next 3–4hr. 9. The onset of refractility, the synthesis of 2,6-dipicolinic acid and the appearance of heat-resistance occurred in this order some 6–12hr. after the end of exponential growth. 10. The significance of these changes is discussed in relation to the morphological development of the spore.     

Growth of Bacillus fastidiosus on glycerol and the enzymes of ammonia assimilation

Bacillus fastidiosus was able to grow on glycerol as a carbon source when allantoin or urate was used as nitrogen source. The primary assimilatory enzyme for glycerol was glycerol kinase; glycerol dehydrogenase could not be detected. The glycerol kinase activity was increased 30-fold in allantoin/glycerol-grown cells as compared to alantoin-grown cells. Under both growth conditions high levels of glutamate dehydrogenase were found. Glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthase activities could not be demonstrated, while low levels of alanine dehydrogenase were present. It is concluded that B. fastidiosus assimilates ammonia by the NADP-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase.Abbreviations GS glutamine synthetase - GOGAT glutamate synthase - GDH glutamate dehydrogenase - ADH alanine dehydrogenase     

Enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle in Obeliscoides cuniculi (Nematoda; Trichostrongylidae) during parasitic development

The specific activities of the enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle; citrate synthase, aconitase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, fumarase, and malate dehydrogenase, were determined in early fifth-stage, young and mature adult Obeliscoides cuniculi, the rabbit stomach worm. ∝-Ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity could not be determined in any fraction. Fumarate reductase activity was found only in the mitochondrial fraction while all other enzymes, including an NADP-dependent malic enzyme were localized in the cytoplasm. Glutamate dehydrogenase, acid and alkaline phosphatase activities were also recorded. High levels of those enzymes acting in the “reversed” direction, i.e. MDH and fumarase relative to the enzymes of the “forward” direction, i.e. citrate synthase, aconitase and isocitrate dehydrogenase suggests that under anaerobic conditions a modified tricarboxylic acid cycle can operate. Some variations in specific activities were apparent as the worms matured but no qualitative differences were observed.     

Intermediary carbohydrate metabolism in the adult filarial worm Setaria digitata.

Several key enzymes related to carbohydrate metabolism were assayed in Setaria digitata. In the cytosolic fraction pyruvate kinase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, malate dehydrogenase, malic enzyme, aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase were found. Among the TCA cycle enzymes succinate dehydrogenase, fumarate reductase, fumarase (malate dehydration), malate dehydrogenase (malate oxidation and oxaloacetate reduction) and malic enzyme (malate decarboxylation) were detected in the mitochondrial fraction. Only reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) dehydrogenase, NADH oxidase and NADH-cytochrome c reductase were found in the mitochondrial fraction. The significance of these results with respect to the metabolic capabilities of the worm are discussed.     

Induction and synthesis of tubulin during the cell cycle and life cycle of Chlamydomonas reinhardi

Two types of tubulin induction are observed in Chlamydomonas reinhardi. One is elicited by flagellar detachment and the other occurs as a normal event of the vegetative cell cycle. In the former case, a strong and extensive induction of tubulin synthesis occurs following deflagellation of cells in all phases of the life cycle [vegetative, gametic, and (early) zygotic]. Synthesis is initiated in all three cell types within 15 min after deflagellation. In gametic and zygotic cells, tubulin synthesis so induced accounts for 15 to 20% of the total protein synthesis during the 1-hr peak period of tubulin production. The ability to support both tubulin synthesis and flagellar regeneration is lost in zygotes at 1.5 hr after the initiation of zygotic development. This alteration represents one of several dramatic shifts in the programming of protein synthesis that occur during the first 4 hr of zygotic differentiation in C. reinhardi. The second (i.e., cell cycle-dependent) type of induction is observed in synchronously growing vegetative cells at ～1.5–2 hr prior to cytokinesis. Tubulin synthesis, in this case, persists at relatively high levels (～5% of the total protein synthesis) for the next 9 hr, i.e., through the entire period of cell division to a time just before the liberation of fully flagellated daughter cells at hr 20 of the cell cycle. Changes in the programming of protein synthesis, and of tubulin synthesis in particular, are discussed in relation to specific physiological and cytological transitions that occur during the growth and differentiation of C. reinhardi.     

Metabolic changes in the African fruit beetle,Pachnoda sinuata,during starvation

Specimens of the fruit beetle Pachnoda sinuata were starved for up to 30 days. The weight of the beetles declined consistently throughout the starvation period. Concentrations of carbohydrates and alanine in flight muscles, fat body and haemolymph decreased rapidly after onset of starvation, while the concentration of proline remained high. Whereas the lipid concentrations in the haemolymph did not change significantly upon starvation, the lipid content in flight muscles and fat body decreased significantly.Beetles that had been starved for 14 days responded to injection of Mem-CC, the endogenous neuropeptide from its corpora cardiaca, with hyperprolinaemia and a decrease in the alanine level, but no such effect was monitored after prolonged starvation of 28 days. Regardless of the period of starvation, Mem-CC injection could not cause hypertrehalosaemia or hyperlipaemia, although carbohydrates were increased in fed beetles after injection.Flight ability of beetles that had been starved for 15 or 30 days was apparently not impaired. During such periods, beetles used proline exclusively as fuel for flight as evidenced by the increase in the level of alanine in the haemolymph and decrease of the level of proline; the concentrations of carbohydrates and lipids remained unchanged.Activities of malic enzyme and alanine aminotransferase (enzymes involved in transamination in proline metabolism), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (enzyme of glycolysis), 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (enzyme of beta-oxidation of fatty acids) and of malate dehydrogenase (enzyme of Krebs cycle) were measured in fat body and flight muscles. In flight muscle tissue the maximum activity of NAD(+)-dependent malic enzyme increased, while that of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase decreased during starvation, and malate dehydrogenase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and alanine aminotransferase were unchanged. In fat body tissue, activities of NADP(+)-dependent malic enzyme and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase increased during food deprivation and activities of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and alanine aminotransferase remained unchanged.     

Pyruvate metabolism during maturation of hamlin oranges

The roles of the pyruvate decarboxylation pathway and TCA metabolic cycle in activation of anaerobic metabolism in ripening Hamlin oranges were investigated. Oranges were harvested weekly from October to February during the 1980–81 and 1981–82 growing season. Juice vesicles from each weekly sample were assayed for pyruvate decarboxylase, alcohol dehydrogenase, malic enzyme, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, malate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, isocitrate dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase. Also, juice was assayed for ethanol, acetaldehyde, pyruvate, oxalacetate, malate and citrate. In December when ethanol accumulated rapidly in the fruit, pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase increased markedly. During the same month, the pyruvate level declined, suggesting that the increases in enzyme levels activated the conversion of pyruvate to ethanol.     

A possible role of the key enzymes of the glyoxylate and gluconeogenesis pathways for fruit-body formation of the wood-rotting basidiomycete Flammulina velutipes

 Biochemical roles of the representative enzymes involved in carbon metabolism of glucose were investigated in relation to the fruit-body formation of the basidiomycete Flammulina velutipes. Changes in specific activities of the enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and glyoxylate (GLOX) and gluconeogenesis pathways were measured at different stages of development of the fungus. The enzyme activities of malate synthase (MS) and fructose bisphosphatase (FBP) as the key enzymes for the GLOX-gluconeogenesis pathways increased in mycelia during the fruit-body formation. The activities of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) for the TCA cycle and NADP-linked glutamate dehydrogenase (GLTDH (NADP)) for glutamate synthesis increased more markedly. Moreover, the mycelial mat of the cultures producing fruit bodies yielded greater enzyme activities of isocitrate lyase (ICL), MS, FBP, and IDH than that of the cultures that did not produce fruit bodies. These results suggest that the GLOX-gluconeogenesis pathways as well as the glutamate synthesis have a strong correlation with the fruit-body formation of F. velutipes. Received: January 22, 2002 / Accepted: May 10, 2002     

Glyoxylate metabolism and fatty acid oxidation in mango fruit during development and ripening

Throughout the development (maturation) of mango fruit the contents of citric and glyoxylic acids increased steadily. As the fruit matured the levels of isocitrate lyase, malate lyase and alanine: glyoxylate aminotransferase increased and reached maximum values prior to the time of harvesting. At and after harvest the levels of malate lyase and alanine : glyoxylate aminotransferase began to decrease but that of isocitrate lyase remained high until after the harvest when it decreased. The level of glyoxylate reductase was highest in the early developmental stage but declined as the fruit matured and ripened. As the fruit ripened, after harvest, the amounts of citric and glyoxylic acids decreased concomitant with a considerable increase in the levels of isocitrate dehydrogenase, malic dehydrogenase, malic enzyme and glyoxylate dehydrogenase.Fatty acid oxidizing capacity of mitochondria isolated from immature (developing) and postclimacteric fruit pulps was much less than that observed with mitochondria from preclimacteric and climacteric fruit. Glyoxylate stimulated the oxidation of caprylic, lauric, myristic and palmitic acids and inhibited the activity of isocitrate dehydrogenase in vitro.