Skip to main content
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1977 May;59(5):925–929. doi: 10.1104/pp.59.5.925

Changes in Potato Tuber Invertase and Its Endogenous Inhibitor After Slicing, Including a Study of Assay Methods 1,2

Elmer E Ewing a, Maria Devlin a,3, Deborah A McNeill a,4, Martha H McAdoo a,5, Anne M Hedges a
PMCID: PMC543323  PMID: 16659969

Abstract

The increase in the invertase activity of extracts from freshly cut potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) by “foaming,” caused by selective denaturation of an endogenous invertase inhibitor, did not occur in extracts made from thin disks 2 days after slicing. Rather, foaming such extracts decreased invertase activity. Apparently, the inhibitor disappeared after slicing, and the enzyme became more labile to foaming. Such disappearance of inhibitor could account for up to 15% of the dramatic increase in total invertase activity that had occurred within 2 days after slicing. The difference between extracts from 0-day and 2-day slices was mainly in the first of two peaks of invertase activity eluted from diethylaminoethyl-cellulose columns. This peak was increased by foaming 0-day extracts, but even when foamed was much smaller than in 2-day extracts. The apparent loss in inhibitor was not caused by a decreasing susceptibility of the enzyme to the inhibitor. Both the increase in total invertase activity and the apparent loss of inhibitor after slicing were partially blocked by actinomycin D and completely blocked by cycloheximide.

The presence of the inhibitor can lead to serious errors in the usual whole disk method of assay for invertase in slices. Ethyl acetate treatment reduces the solubility of the enzyme but does not inactivate the inhibitor.

Full text

PDF
925

Selected References

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

  1. BACON J. S., MACDONALD I. R., KNIGHT A. H. THE DEVELOPMENT OF INVERTASE ACTIVITY IN SLICES OF THE ROOT OF BETA VULGARIS L. WASHED UNDER ASEPTIC CONDITIONS. Biochem J. 1965 Jan;94:175–182. doi: 10.1042/bj0940175. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CLICK R. E., HACKETT D. P. THE ROLE OF PROTEIN AND NUCLEIC ACID SYNTHESIS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESPIRATION IN POTATO TUBER SLICES. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1963 Aug;50:243–250. doi: 10.1073/pnas.50.2.243. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. EDELMAN J., HALL M. A. EFFECT OF GROWTH HORMONES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF INVERTASE ASSOCIATED WITH CELL WALLS. Nature. 1964 Jan 18;201:296–297. doi: 10.1038/201296b0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. EDELMAN J., HALL M. A. ENZYME FORMATION IN HIGHER-PLANT TISSUES. DEVELOPMENT OF INVERTASE AND ASCORBATE-OXIDASE ACTIVITIES IN MATURE STORAGE TISSUE OF HELIANTHUS TUBEROSUS L. Biochem J. 1965 May;95:403–410. doi: 10.1042/bj0950403. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ellis R. J., Macdonald I. R. Specificity of cycloheximide in higher plant systems. Plant Physiol. 1970 Aug;46(2):227–232. doi: 10.1104/pp.46.2.227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Ewing E. E., McAdoo M. H. An examination of methods used to assay potato tuber invertase and its naturally occurring inhibitor. Plant Physiol. 1971 Sep;48(3):366–370. doi: 10.1104/pp.48.3.366. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Matsushita K., Uritani I. Change in invertase activity of sweet potato in response to wounding and purification and properties of its invertases. Plant Physiol. 1974 Jul;54(1):60–66. doi: 10.1104/pp.54.1.60. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Pressey R. Separation and properties of potato invertase and invertase inhibitor. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1966 Mar;113(3):667–674. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(66)90246-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Pressey R., Shaw R. Effect of temperature on invertase, invertase inhibitor, and sugars in potato tubers. Plant Physiol. 1966 Dec;41(10):1657–1661. doi: 10.1104/pp.41.10.1657. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Vaughan D., Macdonald I. R. Development of soluble and insoluble invertase activity in washed storage tissue slices. Plant Physiol. 1967 Mar;42(3):456–458. doi: 10.1104/pp.42.3.456. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES