scholarly journals Polarographic Study of Ammonia Assimilation by Isolated Chloroplasts

1977 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Anderson ◽  
James Done
1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 659 ◽  
Author(s):  
JW Yu ◽  
KC Woo

Malate stimulated NH3 assimilation, as determined by a (2-oxoglutarate, NH3)-dependent O2 evolution system, by up to 3-fold in chloroplasts isolated from leaves of dicot but not monocot species. This difference was apparently correlated with the endogenous metabolite pools present in these chloroplast preparations. During NH3 assimilation the glutamate and glutamine pools were large in spinach (dicot) but small in oat chloroplasts. The reverse was the case for the 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) pool. The addition of malate substantially increased the glutamate, glutamine and 2-OG pools in spinach chloroplasts but had little effect in oat chloroplasts. This suggests that the supply of 2-OG was apparently limiting NH3 assimilation in spinach chloroplasts. Malate increased this supply and, consequently, stimulated NH3 assimilation. On the other hand, NH3 assimilation in oat chloroplasts seemed to be limited by the supply of glutamate and glutamine which could not be overcome by the addition of malate. Chloroplasts were also isolated from oat seedlings watered with high nutrient solution. The rates of NH3 assimilation in these organelles exceeded those obtained in spinach chloroplasts. But the addition of malate had little effect on (2-OG, NH3)-dependent O2 evolution in these oat chloroplasts. Since malate did not inhibit this activity it is conceivable that it still might play a role, albeit a 'passive' role, in serving as a counter-ion for 2-OG uptake via the 2-OG translocator and glutamate export via the Dct translocator during NH3 assimilation.


1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 653 ◽  
Author(s):  
JW Yu ◽  
KC Woo

The stable double-layer silicone centrifugation system was used to determine the kinetic properties of the 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) translocator in isolated oat and spinach chloroplasts. The uptake of [14C]2-OG and [14C]malate via the 2-OG translocator were measured in the presence of 20 mM glutamate in chloroplasts preloaded with unlabelled 2-OG. The characteristics of the general dicarboxylate (Dct) translocator were also determined using chloroplasts preloaded with glutamate. The Vmax values obtained for transport activity via the 2-OG translocator in oat and spinach chloroplasts exceeded 150 μmol mg-1 Chl h-1 and for the Dct translocator less than 100 μmol mg-1 Chl h-1. The K� (malate) values of the 2-OG and Dct translocators also showed large differences in the two species. In spinach chloroplasts they were 2.7 and 0.6 mM for the 2-OG and Dct translocators respectively whereas, in oat chloroplasts the corresponding values were 2.7 and 1.4 mM. This suggests that, in spinach, malate would be transported into the chloroplasts preferentially via the Dct translocator, thus providing a kinetic basis for the 'push and pull' mechanism proposed for dicarboxylate transport during photorespiratory NH3 recycling in the 2-translocator model.


1980 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 1099-1108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikuláš Chavko ◽  
Michal Bartík ◽  
Evžen Kasafírek

A polarographic study of the hydrolysis of [8-lysine]vasopressin and some hormonogens of the vasopressin series with the blood serum of women in the last week of pregnancy was studied. The dependence of hydrolysis on pH (pH optimum: 7.4-7.50, substrate concentration (Km 1.2 . 10-5M), pH stability and thermal stability were determined. The rate of hydrolysis of individual vasopressin analogues decreases in the order: [8-lysine]vasopressin > Nα-glycyl-prolyl[8-lysine]-vasopressin > Nα-leucyl-[8-lysine]vasopressin > Nα-alanyl-[8-lysine]vasopressin > Nα-phenyl alanyl-[8-lysine]vasopressin > Nα-diglycyl-[8-lysine]vasopressin > Nα-prolyl-[8-lysine]vasopressin > Nα-triglycyl-[8-lysine]vasopressin > Nα-sarcosyl-glycyl-[8-lysine]vasopressin. The degree of hydrolysis gradually increases to a multiple with the length of the pregnancy in consequence of the presence of oxytocine. However, vasopressin is also hydrolysed to a small extent with the enzymes from the blood sera of non-pregnant women. Under similar analytical conditions oxytocin was not hydrolysed with the sera of non-pregnant women and therefore oxytocin is a more suitable substrate than vasopressin for polarographic determination of serum oxytocinase.


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