Purification and properties of sucrose synthase from maize kernels

Sucrose synthase was purified from 22-day-old maize (Zea mays L.) kernels to homogeneity by the successive steps of ammonium sulfate fractionation, gel filtration through a Sephadex G-200 column, and affinity chromatography on a UDP-hexanol-amino-agarose column. The degree of purification is 42-fold and the yield is over 80%. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic techniques, sedimentation velocity, and gel filtration studies revealed that the enzyme has identical subunits and could assume tetrameric, octameric, and other higher aggregated forms which are dependent on the ionic species and ionic strength of the solution. All of the enzyme forms exhibit catalytic activity but show differences in their specific activities. In most cases, the tetramer is the predominant form and has the highest specific activity. It is thus concluded that the tetramer could be the native form of the enzyme. The subunit protein has a molecular weight of 88,000 and a blocked NH₂ terminus which is not available to Edman degradation. Some general properties and the amino acid composition of the enzyme are also reported.