Progress and prospects in the use of peroxidase to study cell development

The need for peroxidase purification is stressed as a requirement for comparative studies on isoenzyme structure as well as for detailed investigations on biosynthesis. A single cationic protein possessing the major peroxidase activity was isolated from the medium in which peanut cells had grown. The antibodies raised against this pure protein were employed as a probe to study the site of synthesis of peroxidase in the cell as well as the proportion of total synthesized protein which was peroxidase. Structural studies on the purified isoenzymes suggest the presence of three gene loci for peroxidase in cultured peanut cells. The results are discussed together with potential assays for induction of this enzyme and the relationship to cell development.