Indole-3-Pyruvic Acid as an Intermediate in the Conversion of Tryptophan to Indole-3-Acetic Acid. I. Some Characteristics of Tryptophan Transaminase from Mung Bean Seedlings

Seedlings of mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) contain a soluble enzyme capable of converting l-tryptophan to indole-3-pyruvic acid by transamination. The concentration of the enzyme is highest in the stem meristem and primary leaves and lowest in the roots. The enzyme was purified 28.6 fold by ammonium sulphate precipitation, Sephadex G-200 filtration, and electrophoresis. The isoelectric point of the enzyme protein was pH 6.6. The optimum pH and temperature for the catalytic conversion were ca. 8.5 and 53°C respectively. Using l -tryptophan and α-ketoglutarate as substrates Km was found to be 3.3 × 10^?4 M and the activation energy 18,270 cal per mole. The enzyme converted only the l -form of tryptophan, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and histidine. Out of 13 other l -amino acids tested 8 could be transaminated. Eight α-keto acids tested could all be used as substrates. High efficiency of an α-keto acid as an amino group acceptor agreed usually with high efficiency of the corresponding amino acid as a donor. The pari ß-methyl-α-ketoisovaleric acid and isoleucine was an exception to that rule. Addition of pyridoxalphosphate to the reaction mixture was not needed. The indole-3-pyruvic acid formed in the reaction was trapped and partly stabilized as its borate complex and measured spectrophotometrically at 327 nm. The keto acid formed was further identified by chromatography of its 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone in 4 solvent systems. When using α-keto-glutaric acid as a substrate, the glutamic acid produced was determined by the glutamate dehydrogenase method. The sensitivity of the assay permits enzyme determinations in extracts from 5 mg leaves or 100 mg roots.     

Studies on the Destruction of Indole-3-acetic Acid by a Species of Arthrobacter. V. Indole-3-acetic Acid Production from Tryptophan

Tryptophan (Try) metabolism of Arthrobacter sp. was examined. The inducibility of the Try oxidizing enzyme system seems to be correlated with that of the indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) oxidizing enzyme system. Try is metabolized to IAA via indole-3-pyruvic acid (Ip) and indole-3-acetaldehyde (IAAId). Indole-3-acetamide (IAm) is formed as a product of Try oxidation. Exogenous IAm, indole-3-acetonitrile (IAN) and tryptamine are not oxidized by Try-induced cells.     

Oxidation of Indole-3-Acetic Acid to Oxindole-3-Acetic Acid by an Enzyme Preparation from Zea mays

Indole-3-acetic acid is oxidized to oxindole-3-acetic acid by Zea mays tissue extracts. Shoot, root, and endosperm tissues have enzyme activities of 1 to 10 picomoles per hour per milligram protein. The enzyme is heat labile, is soluble, and requires oxygen for activity. Cofactors of mixed function oxygenase, peroxidase, and intermolecular dioxygenase are not stimulatory to enzymic activity. A heat-stable, detergent-extractable component from corn enhances enzyme activity 6- to 10-fold. This is the first demonstration of the in vitro enzymic oxidation of indole-3-acetic acid to oxindole-3-acetic acid in higher plants.     

Transaminase studies in germinating seeds

The changes in glutamic-alanine and glutamic-aspartic transaminase during the germinating period of the seedling have been studied with plants from three plant families. It was found that in the germinating seed embryo the glutamic-aspartic transaminase activity was in general higher than the glutamic-alanine transaminase activity. At the beginning of germination all plants studied contained approximately the same amount of transaminase: i.e., about 5–10 units/embryo. However after 120 hr. of germination there were wide variations in the amount of transaminase found in the different species. In most of the plants studied the transaminase activity/mg. protein nitrogen revealed a proportionally greater increase in the enzymatic activity than that of the protein nitrogen.Stimulation of growth and metabolism of the embryo by the use of a mineral supplement for germination of the seeds produced an increase in the rate of formation of both transaminase and protein nitrogen. However, the production of the enzyme was relatively greater than the formation of protein nitrogen.The results indicated that no definite relationships existed between the changes in glutamic-alanine or glutamic-aspartic transaminase activity and the formation of protein. This would suggest that in plants, protein synthesis is not a direct function of transaminase activity; it may play an indirect role in protein synthesis by its action on the interconversion of amino and keto acids.     

Partial Purification and Characterization of an Inducible Indole-3-Acetyl-L-Aspartic Acid Hydrolase from Enterobacter agglomerans

Indole-3-acetyl-amino acid conjugate hydrolases are believed to be important in the regulation of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) metabolism in plants and therefore have potential uses for the alteration of plant IAA metabolism. To isolate bacterial strains exhibiting significant indole-3-acetyl-aspartate (IAA-Asp) hydrolase activity, a sewage sludge inoculation was cultured under conditions in which IAA-Asp served as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen. One isolate, Enterobacter agglomerans, showed hydrolase activity inducible by IAA-L-Asp or N-acetyl-L-Asp but not by IAA, (NH4)2SO4, urea, or indoleacetamide. Among a total of 17 IAA conjugates tested as potential substrates, the enzyme had an exclusively high substrate specificity for IAA-L-Asp. Substrate concentration curves and Lineweaver-Burk plots of the kinetic data showed a Michaelis constant value for IAA-L-Asp of 13.5 mM. The optimal pH for this enzyme was between 8.0 and 8.5. In extraction buffer containing 0.8 mM Mg2+ the hydrolase activity was inhibited to 80% by 1 mM dithiothreitol and to 60% by 1 mm CuSO4; the activity was increased by 40% with 1 mM MnSO4. However, in extraction buffer with no trace elements, the hydrolase activity was inhibited to 50% by either 1 mM dithiothreitol or 1% Triton X-100 (Sigma). These results suggest that disulfide bonding might be essential for enzyme activity. Purification of the hydrolase by hydroxyapatite and TSK-phenyl (HP-Genenchem, South San Francisco, CA) preparative high-performance liquid chromatography yielded a major 45-kD polypeptide as shown by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.     

Indole-3-acetic Acid Synthesis in Tumorous and Nontumorous Species of Nicotiana

The synthesis of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in the enzyme extracts of Nicotiana glauca, Nicotiana langsdorffii, their F1 hybrid, their amphidiploid hybrid, and the nontumorous mutant of the hybrid was investigated. Tryptamine, a possible precursor of IAA biosynthesis in Nicotiana tabacum, was not found in the callus tissue of N. glauca, N. langsdorffii, and their F1 hybrid.

In petiole slices, the synthesis of IAA progressively increased during 5 hours of incubation in [¹⁴C]tryptophan. The rate of synthesis was about equal in the hybrid and N. langsdorffii but lower in N. glauca on either a cell or fresh weight basis. It was also found that tryptophan was about 25 times more efficient than tryptamine in promoting synthesis of IAA in petiole slices.

It was found that indoleacetaldehyde oxidase, indoleacetaldehyde reductase, and tryptophan aminotransferase activities were present in all of the species examined; however, tryptophan decarboxylase activity was not found. The tryptophan aminotransferase activity in N. glauca, N. langsdorffii, and the nontumorous mutant required α-ketoglutaric acid and pyridoxal 5-phosphate whereas the addition of pyridoxal 5-phosphate seemed not to increase the enzyme activity in tumor plants.

The tryptophan aminotransferase in the amphidiploid hybrid was partially purified by acetone precipitation. The enzyme activity had a temperature optimum at 49 C and a pH optimum at 8.9. It is suggested that there is an indolepyruvic acid pathway in the synthesis of IAA in the Nicotiana species examined.

     

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) synthesis in the biocontrol strain CHA0 of Pseudomonas fluorescens: role of tryptophan side chain oxidase.

Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CHA0 is an effective biocontrol agent against soil-borne fungal plant pathogens. In this study, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis in strain CHA0 was investigated. Two key enzyme activities were found to be involved: tryptophan side chain oxidase (TSO) and tryptophan transaminase. TSO was induced in the stationary growth phase. By fractionation of a cell extract of strain CHA0 on DEAE-Sepharose, two distinct peaks of constitutive tryptophan transaminase activity were detected. A pathway leading from tryptophan to IAA via indole-3-acetamide, which occurs in Pseudomonas syringae subsp. savastanoi, was not present in strain CHA0. IAA synthesis accounted for less than or equal to 1.5% of exogenous tryptophan consumed by resting cells of strain CHA0, indicating that the bulk of tryptophan was catabolized via yet another pathway involving anthranilic acid as an intermediate. Strain CHA750, a mutant lacking TSO activity, was obtained after Tn5 mutagenesis of strain CHA0. In liquid cultures (pH 6.8) supplemented with 10 mM-L-tryptophan, growing cells of strains CHA0 and CHA750 synthesized the same amount of IAA, presumably using the tryptophan transaminase pathway. In contrast, resting cells of strain CHA750 produced five times less IAA in a buffer (pH 6.0) containing 1 mM-L-tryptophan than did resting cells of the wild-type, illustrating the major contribution of TSO to IAA synthesis under these conditions. In artificial soils at pH approximately 7 or pH approximately 6, both strains had similar abilities to suppress take-all disease of wheat or black root rot of tobacco. This suggests that TSO-dependent IAA synthesis is not essential for disease suppression.     

Metabolism of Tryptophan, Indole-3-acetic Acid, and Related Compounds in Parasitic Plants from the Genus Orobanche

Metabolic reactions involving the aliphatic side chain of tryptophan were studied in the holoparasitic dicotyledonous plants Orobanche gracilis Sm., O. lutea Baumg., and O. ramosa L. Unlike known autotrophic plants, the parasite metabolized l-tryptophan directly to indole-3-carboxaldehyde, which was further converted to indole-3-methanol and indole-3-carboxylic acid. Independently, these metabolites were also formed from d-tryptophan, tryptamine, indole-3-lactic acid, and indole-3-acetic acid. As in autotrophic plants, tryptophan and tryptamine were also converted, via indole-3-acetaldehyde, to indole-3-acetic acid, indole-3-ethanol, and its glucoside. The branch of tryptophan metabolism relevant to auxin biogenesis and catabolism is, therefore, not rudimentary in Orobanche but even more complex than in autotrophic higher plants.     

Conversion of Indole-3-Acetaldehyde to Indole-3-Acetic Acid in Cell-Wall Fraction of Barley (Hordeum vulgare) Seedlings

The cell-wall fraction of barley seedlings was able to oxidizeindole-3-acetaldehyde (IAAld) to form IAA, whereas the fractiondid not catalyze the conversion of in-dole-3-acetonitrile orindole-3-acetamide to IAA. The activity was lower in a semi-dwarfmutant that had an endogenous IAA level lower than that of thenormal isogenic strain [Inouhe et al. (1982) Plant Cell Physiol.23: 689]. The soluble fraction also contained some activity;the activity was similar in the normal and mutant strains. Theoptimal pH for the conversion of IAAld to IAA in the cell-wallfraction was 7; that of soluble fraction was 6. The K^m valueof the cell-wall fraction for IAAld was 5 µM; that ofsoluble fraction was 31 µM. The activity was not solubi-lizedby treatments with 1% Nonidet P-40,1 M NaCI, 3 M LiCl, or 50mM MgCl2. The oxidation activity was increased by the additionof NAD⁺. These results suggest that IAAld oxidation activityis bound to cell-wall components and that the lower level ofIAA in the mutant probably results from reduced activity ofoxidation enzyme bound to cell-wall components. (Received July 31, 1996; Accepted December 16, 1996)     

Tryptophan Biosynthesis from Indole-3-Acetic Acid by Anaerobic Bacteria from the Rumen

Microbes in ruminal contents incorporated (14)C into cells when they were incubated in vitro in the presence of [(14)C]carboxyl-labeled indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Most of the cellular (14)C was found to be in tryptophan from the protein fractions of the cells. Pure cultures of several important ruminal species did not incorporate labeled IAA, but all four strains of Ruminococcus albus tested utilized IAA for tryptophan synthesis. R. albus did not incorporate (14)C into tryptophan during growth in medium containing either labeled serine or labeled shikimic acid. The mechanism of tryptophan biosynthesis from IAA is not known but appears to be different from any described biosynthetic pathway. We propose that a reductive carboxylation, perhaps involving a low-potential electron donor such as ferredoxin, is involved.     

Metabolism of Indole-3-acetaldehyde.

Aerobic infiltration of synthetic indoleacetaldehyde (IAAld) in buffered medium of pH 4.55, into living tissues of lower and higher plants, leads in the majority of cases to the formation of both indoleacetic acid and tryptophol. This activity is evinced by etiolated as well as green tissues. Besides, all parts of higher plants tested — roots, cotyledons, hypocotyls and leaves possess this activity. Abolishment of this activity by boiling indicates its enzymic nature. Coupled with the established occurrence of indoleacetaldehyde, the widespread distribution of such activity, strengthens the probability that indoleacetaldehyde may be the normal and natural precursor in the biosynthesis of indoleacetic acid.     

delta-Aminolevulinic Acid Formation from gamma,delta-Dioxovaleric Acid in Extracts of Euglena gracilis

γ,δ-Dioxovaleric acid (DOVA) has been proposed as a precursor to heme and chlorophyll in plants and algae. DOVA transaminase activity was found in extracts of the unicellular green alga Euglena gracilis Klebs strain Z Pringsheim. Optimum conversion of DOVA to δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) occurred at pH 6.8. ALA formation was linear with time for at least 30 minutes at 37° C and was proportional to amount of cell extract in the incubation mixture. Boiled cell extract was inactive. DOVA transaminase from either wild-type or aplastidic derivative strain W₁₄ZNaIL ran as a single band in agarose gel permeation chromatography, with a calculated molecular weight of 98,000 ± 3,000. l-Glutamic acid was the most effective amino donor. d-Glutamic acid was inactive. K_m values for l-glutamic acid and DOVA were 11 and 1.1 millimolar, respectively. Pyridoxal phosphate stimulated activity maximally at 30 micromolar, and (aminooxy)acetate was strongly inhibitory. Glyoxylic acid was a competitive inhibitor with respect to DOVA, with an inhibition constant of 0.62 millimolar. Wild-type and aplastidic cells vielded equal activity, 31 ± 1 nanomoles ALA per 30 minutes per 10⁷ cells, whether grown in light or dark. DOVA transaminase could not be separated from glyoxylate transaminase activity by agarose gel permeation or diethylaminoethyl-cellulose column chromatography. In all fractions, glyoxylate transaminase activity was at least 75 times greater than DOVA transaminase activity. DOVA transamination appears to be catalyzed by glyoxylate transaminase, and not to be of physiological significance with respect to chlorophyll synthesis in Euglena.     

A Bacterial Indole-3-acetyl-L-aspartic Acid Hydrolase Inhibits Mung Bean (Vigna radiata L.) Seed Germination Through Arginine-rich Intracellular Delivery

Indole-3-acetyl-L-aspartic acid (IAA-Asp) is a natural product in many plant species and plays many important roles in auxin metabolism and plant physiology. IAA-Asp hydrolysis activity is, therefore, believed to affect plant physiology through changes in IAA metabolism in plants. We applied a newly discovered technique, arginine-rich intracellular delivery (AID), to deliver a bacterial IAA-Asp hydrolase into cells of mung bean (Vigna radiata) seeds and measured its effects on mung bean seed germination. IAA-Asp hydrolase inhibited seed germination about 12 h after the enzyme was delivered into cells of mung bean seeds both covalently and noncovalently. Mung bean seed germination was delayed by 36 h when the enzyme protein was noncovalently attached to the AID peptide and longer than 60 h when the enzyme protein was covalently attached to the AID peptide. Root elongation of mung bean plants was inhibited as much as 90% or 80%, respectively, when the IAA-Asp hydrolase was delivered with the AID peptide by covalent or noncovalent association. Further thin-layer chromatography analysis of plant extracts indicated that the levels of IAA increased about 12 h after treatment and reached their peak at 24 h. This result suggests that IAA-Asp hydrolase may increase IAA levels and inhibit seed germination of mung bean plants and that the AID peptide is a new, rapid, and efficient experimental tool to study the in vivo activity of enzymes of interest in plant cells.     

Reduction in Extractable Deoxyribonucleic Acid Polymerase Activity in Pisum sativum Seedlings by Ethylene

An extract from the apical portion of etiolated seedlings of Pisum sativum L. was used as a test system to examine the action of ethylene on DNA polymerase activity. The extract catalyzed the polymerization of labeled deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates into a trichloroacetic acid-insoluble product. The system required Mg²⁺, nicked DNA, and all four deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates for maximum activity. Extracts from plants previously treated with ethylene showed less activity to synthesize DNA than extracts from nontreated plants. Loss of extractable DNA polymerase activity may be due to accumulation of a non-competitive inhibitor in the ethylene-treated plants. Treating the extract with ethylene did not affect the polymerase activity. Inhibition of cell division by ethylene observed in this and other tissues may be the result of accumulation of an inhibitor of DNA polymerase.     

Metabolism of Indole-3-acetaldehyde

Infiltration of indolcacelaldehyde (IAAId) into living tissues of sonic lower and higher plants gives rise simultaneously to both indoleacetic acid (IAA) and Iryptophol (T-ol). But on a molar basis, there is no correlation between the products indicating a disimitation. Expressed juice of Avena coleoptiles by itself, exhibits only IAA forming activity. Approximately two moles of IAAld are consumed for each mole of IAA formed at pH 4.5, but only if necessary corrections are made for losses of substrate and products. Addition of reduced NAD or NADP readily induces tryptophol formation. But even at pH 4.5, adding reduced NADP causes greater tryptophol formation, leading to a marked divergence in the acid-alcohol ratio. Varying the pH in the presence of reduced coenzymes also alters the ratio, with alcohol formation predominating. NAD and NADP have no influence on the formation of IAA from IAAld by the whole cytoplasm of Avena coleoptiles. Whole cytoplasm of Asparagus shoots forms both IAA and tryptophol from IAAld, but in widely varying amounts, devoid of any suggestive stoichiometry between the products. With the acetone powder of Avena coleoptiles including the first leaf, data indicating an apparent disimitation of IAAld are obtainable only at pH 4.5. On altering the pH however, unequal amounts of the two products, namely IAA and tryptophol, are formed and hence a different ratio results. Acetone powders of wheat coleoptiles and Asparagus shoots do not yield data supporting disimitation either at pH 4.5 or 7.2. IAA formation in Avena is aerobic while tryptophol formation is seemingly independent of oxygen supply. The former activity is selectively abolished by 10^?3M dithionite while the latter activity suffers a similar suppression in the presence of 10^?3M manganese sulphate. Varying the IAAld concentration results in unequal amounts of the two products, revealing the dissimilar affinity of the two activities for the common substrate Saturation to a level of 30 percent with ammonium sulphate throws out most of the acid-forming activity whereas the alcohol-forming system appears mostly in the protein fraction precipitated between 30 and 40 percent saturation. The enzyme system of Avena coleoptiles oxidizing IAAld to IAA can also be easily separated by Sephadex gel filtration and its independent activity demonstrated in the total absence of tryptophol formation. Based on the heterogeneous properties of the two activities, metabolism of IAAld in Avena coleoptiles is believed to be mediated by two independent enzyme systems without the intervention of a mutase or a dismutation mechanism.     

Isolation of Indole-3-ethanol Oxidase from Cucumber Seedlings

Previous work in this laboratory has shown that cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings contain large amounts, relative to other indolic compounds, of extractable indole-3-ethanol (IEt); tracer studies have established that IEt is metabolized to IAA. We have now succeeded in isolating an enzyme from these seedlings which catalyzes the oxidation of IEt to indole-3-acetaldehyde (IAAld). The identification of the product as IAAld was based on solvent partitioning of the free aldehyde and its bisulfite adduct and radiochromatography following incubation of enzyme with ¹⁴C-IEt. A novel, quantitative colorimetric test for IAAld was also developed utilizing the Salkowski reagent. Partial purification of the enzyme was achieved by salt gradient chromatography on Bio-Rex 70, heating the preparation to 70 C, and chromatography on Sephadex G-150. This purification procedure yielded an enzyme activity purified in excess of 3000-fold, and studies on a standardized Sephadex column suggest a molecular weight of the enzyme of approximately 105,000. The reaction was found to proceed only aerobically; and, in the absence of other electron acceptors, O₂ appears to be reduced to H₂O₂. The enzyme has nearly maximum activity from pH 8 to 11.     

An in Vitro System of Indole-3-Acetic Acid Formation from Tryptophan in Maize (Zea mays) Coleoptile Extracts

The formation of a product from tryptophan that had the same retention time as that of authentic indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) on high performance liquid chromatography was detected in crude extracts of maize (Zea mays) coleoptiles. The product was identified as IAA by mass spectrometry. The IAA-forming activity was co-purified with an indole-3-acetaldehyde (IAAld) oxidase activity by chromatography on hydrophobic and gel filtration (GPC-100) columns. During purification, the IAA-forming activity, rather than that of IAAld oxidase, decreased; but when hemoprotein obtained from the same tissue was added, activity recovered to the same level as that of IAAld oxidase. The promotive activity of the hemoprotein was confirmed by the result that the activity coincided with amounts of the hemoprotein after GPC-100 column chromatography. The hemoprotein was characterized and identified as a cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase (T. Koshiba [1993] Plant Cell Physiol [in press]). The reaction of the IAA-forming activity was apparently one step from tryptophan. The activity was inhibited by 2-mercaptoethanol. The optimum temperature for the IAA-forming system as well as for the IAAld oxidase was 50 to 60[deg]C, and the acitivity at 30[deg]C was one-third to one-half of that at 60[deg]C. The system did not discriminate the L- and D-enantiomers of tryptophan.     

Indole-3-acetic Acid Oxidase in a Nicotiana Hybrid and its Parental Types

The metabolism of IAA is correlated with tumor formation in the Nicotiana hybrid, N. glauca x langsdorffii. Higher IAA-oxidase activity was found in leaves of hybrid plants than in leaves of parental types. Furthermore, topographical distribution study revealed that young expanding leaves contained more IAA-oxidase activity than older leaves. In hybrid plants, there is a close correlation between IAA-oxidase activity and the ability of a leaf to produce tumors. Leaves which yield the greatest number of injury-induced tumors also yield the highest IAA-oxidase activity. IAA incites callus-like outgrowths in hybrid plants which do not differentiate into a multitude of apices as is the case with spontaneous tumors. The results are interpreted on the basis of a concept that the IAA-oxidase system in plants may function as part of an IAA activating mechanism rather than in the basis of an IAA destroying system.     

Metabolism of Indole-3-acetaldehyde. III. Some Characteristics of the Aldehyde Oxidase of Avena Coleoptiles

Coleoptiles of Avena contain a soluble enzyme system, capable of oxidizing indoleacetaldehyde (lAAld) to indoleacetic acid (IAA). There is a gradient in the concentration of the enzyme along the length of the coleoptile and the first inter-node. The top 5 mm segment of each organ is relatively richer in this enzyme than the rest of the tissue. The enzyme was purified 17.7-fold by fractional precipitation with ammonium sulphate followed by gel filtration on Sephadex. Optimal pH for lAAld oxidation is ca. 4.4. Activity of the enzyme is normally oxygen obligatory. But, in the absence of oxygen, phenazine methosulphate (PMS) serves as hydrogen acceptor for aldehyde oxidation, but not some other dyes tried. Approximately one mole of oxygen was consumed for each mole of IAA formed. Formation of H₂O₂ could not be detected. Added H₂O₂ inhibited the reaction. Prolonged dialysis progressively inactivated the enzyme. Added NAD, NADP, FMN, FAD, cytochrome c, cyanoco-balamin, folic acid and ascorbic acid did not restore the lost activity. But 10^?3M cysteine restored about 60 % of the lost activity. The enzyme is an acidic protein, isoelectric at pH 4.05. For lAAld, under the conditions of experimentation, a Km of 3.45 × 10^?4M was calculated. Besides lAAld, indole-3-aldehyde and phenylacetaldehyde served as substrates, but not acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, salicylaldehyde, xanthine, hypoxanthine or catechol. Cyanide, dithionite and mercapto-ethanol totally inactivated the enzyme depending upon the concentration and duration of treatment. X-ray irradiation up to a dosage of 2900 r promoted the lAAld oxidizing activity of cell-free preparations made from irradiated coleoptiles. As yet, no cofactor requirements have been found for the activity. The enzyme is unlikely to be a pyridino- or a flavoprotein.     

Metabolism of Indole-3-Acetic Acid in Arabidopsis

The metabolism of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) was investigated in 14-d-old Arabidopsis plants grown in liquid culture. After ruling out metabolites formed as an effect of nonsterile conditions, high-level feeding, and spontaneous interconversions, a simple metabolic pattern emerged. Oxindole-3-acetic acid (OxIAA), OxIAA conjugated to a hexose moiety via the carboxyl group, and the conjugates indole-3-acetyl aspartic acid (IAAsp) and indole-3-acetyl glutamate (IAGlu) were identified by mass spectrometry as primary products of IAA fed to the plants. Refeeding experiments demonstrated that none of these conjugates could be hydrolyzed back to IAA to any measurable extent at this developmental stage. IAAsp was further oxidized, especially when high levels of IAA were fed into the system, yielding OxIAAsp and OH-IAAsp. This contrasted with the metabolic fate of IAGlu, since that conjugate was not further metabolized. At IAA concentrations below 0.5 μm, most of the supplied IAA was metabolized via the OxIAA pathway, whereas only a minor portion was conjugated. However, increasing the IAA concentrations to 5 μm drastically altered the metabolic pattern, with marked induction of conjugation to IAAsp and IAGlu. This investigation used concentrations for feeding experiments that were near endogenous levels, showing that the metabolic pathways controlling the IAA pool size in Arabidopsis are limited and, therefore, make good targets for mutant screens provided that precautions are taken to avoid inducing artificial metabolism.The plant hormone IAA is an important signal molecule in the regulation of plant development. Its central role as a growth regulator makes it necessary for the plant to have mechanisms that strictly control its concentration. The hormone is believed to be active primarily as the free acid, and endogenous levels are controlled in vivo by processes such as synthesis, oxidation, and conjugation. IAA has been shown to form conjugates with sugars, amino acids, and small peptides. Conjugates are believed to be involved in IAA transport, in the storage of IAA for subsequent use, in the homeostatic control of the pool of the free hormone, and as a first step in the catabolic pathways (Cohen and Bandurski, 1978; Nowacki and Bandurski, 1980; Tuominen et al., 1994; Östin et al., 1995; Normanly, 1997). It is generally accepted that in some species conjugated IAA is the major source of free IAA during the initial stages of seed germination (Ueda and Bandurski, 1969; Sandberg et al., 1987; Bialek and Cohen, 1989), and there is also evidence that in some plants (but not all; see Bialek et al., 1992), the young seedling is entirely dependent on the release of free IAA from conjugated pools until the plant itself is capable of de novo synthesis (Epstein et al., 1980; Sandberg et al., 1987).The function of conjugated IAA during vegetative growth is somewhat less clear. It has been shown that conjugated IAA constitutes as much as 90% of the total IAA in the plant during vegetative growth (Normanly, 1997). However, the role of the IAA conjugates at this stage of the plant''s life cycle remains unknown. Analysis of endogenous IAA conjugates in vegetative tissues has revealed the presence of a variety of different compounds, including indole-3-acetyl-inositol, indole-3-acetyl-Ala, IAAsp, and IAGlu (Anderson and Sandberg, 1982; Cohen and Baldi, 1983; Chisnell, 1984; Cohen and Ernstsen, 1991; Östin et al., 1992). Studies of vegetative tissues have indicated that IAAsp, one of the major conjugates in many plants, is the first intermediate in an irreversible deactivation pathway (Tsurumi and Wada, 1986; Tuominen et al., 1994; Östin, 1995). Another mechanism that is believed to be involved in the homeostatic control of the IAA pool is catabolism by direct oxidation of IAA to OxIAA, which has been shown to occur in several plant species (Reinecke and Bandurski, 1983; Ernstsen et al., 1987).One area in the study of IAA metabolism in which our knowledge is increasing is the analysis of the homeostatic controls of IAA levels in plants. It has been possible, for instance, to increase the levels of IAA in transgenic plants expressing iaaM and iaaH genes from Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Analysis of these transgenic plants has indicated that plants have several pathways that can compensate for the increased production of IAA (Klee et al., 1987; Sitbon, 1992). It is expected that future studies using now-available genes will provide further insight into IAA metabolism. For example, a gene in maize encoding IAA-Glc synthetase has been identified, and several genes (including ILR1, which may be involved in hydrolysis of the indole-3-acetyl-Leu conjugate) have been cloned from Arabidopsis (Szerszen et al., 1994; Bartel and Fink, 1995). Furthermore, Chou et al. (1996) identified a gene that hydrolyzes the conjugate IAAsp to free IAA in the bacterium Enterobacter aggloremans.Because of its small genome size, rapid life cycle, and the ease of obtaining mutants, Arabidopsis is increasingly used as a genetic model system to investigate various aspects of plant growth and development. IAA signal transduction is also being investigated intensively in Arabidopsis in many laboratories (Leyser, 1997). Mutants with altered responses to externally added auxins or IAA conjugates have been identified in Arabidopsis. The identified mutants are either signal transduction mutants such as axr1-4 (Lincoln et al., 1990), or have mutations in genes involved in auxin uptake or transport, such as aux1 and pin1 (Okada et al., 1991; Bennett et al., 1996). A few mutants that are unable to regulate IAA levels or are unable to hydrolyze IAA conjugates, sur1-2 and ilr1, respectively, have also been identified (Bartel and Fink, 1995; Boerjan et al., 1995). To our knowledge, no mutant that is auxotrophic for IAA has been identified to date, which may reflect the redundancy in IAA biosynthetic pathways or the lethality of such mutants.In spite of the work reported thus far, many aspects of the metabolism of IAA in Arabidopsis require further investigation, because few details of the processes involved in IAA regulation are known. This lack of knowledge puts severe constraints on genetic analysis of IAA metabolism in Arabidopsis. For example, it is essential to have prior knowledge of IAA metabolism to devise novel and relevant screens with which to identify mutants of IAA metabolism. We have sought to address this issue by identifying the metabolic pathways involved in catabolism and conjugation under conditions that minimally perturb physiological processes. In this investigation we studied the conjugation and catabolic pattern of IAA by supplying relatively low levels of labeled IAA and identifying the catabolites and conjugates by MS. Different feeding systems were tested to optimize the application of IAA and to avoid irregularities in metabolism attributable to culturing, feeding conditions, or microbial activity. It is well documented that IAA metabolism is altered according to the amount of exogenous auxin applied; therefore, we placed special emphasis on distinguishing between catabolic routes that occur at near-physiological concentrations and those that occur at the high auxin concentrations commonly used in mutant screens.