Skip to main content
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1978 Feb;61(2):242–247. doi: 10.1104/pp.61.2.242

Inhibition of Glutamate:Glyoxylate Aminotransferase Activity in Tobacco Leaves and Callus by Glycidate, an Inhibitor of Photorespiration 1

Arthur L Lawyer 1, Israel Zelitch 1
PMCID: PMC1091840  PMID: 16660268

Abstract

The effect of glycidate (2,3-epoxypropionate), an inhibitor of glycolate synthesis and photorespiration in leaf tissue, was studied on glutamate:glyoxylate and serine:glyoxylate aminotransferases and glycine decarboxylase activities in particulate preparations obtained from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) callus and leaves. Glycidate specifically and effectively inhibited glutamate:glyoxylate aminotransferase. The inhibition was dependent on glycidate concentration and, to a lesser extent, on substrate concentration. The enzyme was not protected by either substrate. Even with saturating substrate concentrations the glycidate inhibition was only partially reversed. Under the in vitro assay conditions, glycidate inhibition of the aminotransferase was reversible. Glutamate:glyoxylate aminotransferase is the only enzyme of the glycolate pathway thus far examined which is severely inhibited by glycidate. However, in leaf discs, pretreatment with glycidate decreased both glutamate:glyoxylate and serine:glyoxylate aminotransferase activities suggesting binding by glycidate in vivo.

Glycidate increased the pool sizes of both glutamate and glyoxylate in leaf discs. It has been shown that increases in concentration of either of these metabolites decrease photorespiration and glycolate synthesis and increase net photosynthesis. It is proposed that glycidate inhibits photorespiration indirectly by increasing the internal concentrations of glutamate and glyoxylate, as a consequence of the inhibition of glutamate:glyoxylate aminotransferase activity.

Full text

PDF
243

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Berlyn M. B., Zelitch I. Photoautotrophic growth and photosynthesis in tobacco callus cells. Plant Physiol. 1975 Dec;56(6):752–756. doi: 10.1104/pp.56.6.752. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chollet R. Effect of glycidate on glycolate formation and photosynthesis in isolated spinach chloroplasts. Plant Physiol. 1976 Feb;57(2):237–240. doi: 10.1104/pp.57.2.237. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Klinman J. P. The interaction of an epoxide with yeast alcohol dehydrogenase: evidence for binding and the modification of two active site cysteines by styrene oxide. Biochemistry. 1975 Jun 17;14(12):2568–2574. doi: 10.1021/bi00683a002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Mains G., Hofmann T. The inactivation of penicillopepsin with 1,2-epoxy-3-(p-nitrophenoxy) propane, an active-site directed reagent. Can J Biochem. 1974 Nov;52(11):1018–1023. doi: 10.1139/o74-142. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Rehfeld D. W., Tolbert N. E. Aminotransferases in peroxisomes from spinach leaves. J Biol Chem. 1972 Aug 10;247(15):4803–4811. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Tang J. Specific and irreversible inactivation of pepsin by substrate-like epoxides. J Biol Chem. 1971 Jul 25;246(14):4510–4517. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Tolbert N. E., Oeser A., Kisaki T., Hageman R. H., Yamazaki R. K. Peroxisomes from spinach leaves containing enzymes related to glycolate metabolism. J Biol Chem. 1968 Oct 10;243(19):5179–5184. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Tolbert N. E., Oeser A., Yamazaki R. K., Hageman R. H., Kisaki T. A survey of plants for leaf peroxisomes. Plant Physiol. 1969 Jan;44(1):135–147. doi: 10.1104/pp.44.1.135. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Wildner G. F., Henkel J. Specific inhibition of the oxygenase activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1976 Mar 8;69(1):268–275. doi: 10.1016/s0006-291x(76)80302-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Zelitch I. Effect of glycidate, an inhibitor of glycolate synthesis in leaves, on the activity of some enzymes of the glycolate pathway. Plant Physiol. 1978 Feb;61(2):236–241. doi: 10.1104/pp.61.2.236. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES