scholarly journals Peptide mapping of the ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase large subunit from the genus Oenothera

1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 391-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony A. Holder
1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer M. Whitney ◽  
T. John Andrews

Some dinoflagellates have been shown recently to be unique among eukaryotes in having a ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco, EC 4.1.1.39) composed of only one type of subunit, the 53-kDa large subunit [reviewed by Palmer, J.D. (1996) Plant Cell 8, 343–345]. Formerly, such homomeric Rubiscos had been found only in anaerobic bacteria and are characterised by such poor abilities to discriminate against the competitive alternate substrate, O2, that they would not be able to support net carbon gain if exposed to the current atmospheric CO2/O2 ratio. The capacity of Rubiscos from aerobic organisms to discriminate more effectively against O2 appeared to correlate with the presence of additional 12- to 18-kDa small subunits. Thus the CO2/O2 specificity of the homomeric dinoflagellate Rubisco is of considerable interest from the structural, physiological and evolutionary viewpoints. However, for unknown reasons, Rubiscos from dinoflagellates studied so far are so unstable after extraction from the cells that kinetic characterisation has not been possible. We redesigned two methods for measuring Rubisco’s CO2/O2 specificity to adapt them to rapid measurement at 10°C using unfractionated cell extracts. Both methods revealed that the CO2/O2 specificity of Rubisco from the dinoflagellate, Amphidinium carterae Hulburt, was approximately twice as great as that of other homomeric Rubiscos but unlikely to be sufficient to support dinoflagellate photosynthesis without assistance from an inorganic-carbon-concentrating mechanism.


Development ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 83 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 163-178
Author(s):  
R. John Ellis ◽  
Thomas F. Gallagher ◽  
Gareth I. Jenkins ◽  
C. Ruth Lennox

Chloroplast development in higher plants is light dependent, and is accompanied by the synthesis of chlorophyll and the accumulation of many chloroplast polypeptides. There is a 100-fold greater content of the photosynthetic enzyme, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, in light-grown seedlings of Pisum sativum than in dark-grown seedlings. Following the illumination of dark-grown seedlings, there is a parallel increase in the content of both the mRNA and the polypeptide of the small subunit of the carboxylase; this subunit is a product of the nuclear genome. The increases in the mRNA and the polypeptide of the large subunit, which is a product of the chloroplast genome, show less synchronicity. Studies with isolated leaf nuclei show that the increase in small subunit mRNA is mediated primarily at the level of transcription. Three distinct effects of light on transcription of small subunit genes have been found; a rapid (∼1 h) burst, followed by a decline, when etiolated plants are first exposed to light; a slow (∼36h) development of the competence to transcribe rapidly after the initial burst; rapid (∼20 min) switches in both directions when fully greened plants are exposed to light—dark transitions.


1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. P. A. Huner ◽  
F. D. H. Macdowall

Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase–oxygenase (RUBPCase) from leaves of cold-hardened and unhardened Puma rye was purified by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. The specific activity of the hardened form was twice that of the unhardened form. A difference in charge between the two forms of this enzyme was proved by gel electrofocussing. The estimated isoelectric point (pI) values were 6.4 and 6.3 for the enzyme from the hardened and unhardened source respectively. The large subunit (55 000 molecular weight) of the enzyme from only the unhardened source formed an apparent dimer during sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gel electrophoresis. At pH 6.8 it was also the source of an anomalous polypeptide with an apparent molecular weight of 47 000. This anomalous polypeptide appeared in both hardened and unhardened preparations after irreversible inactivation of RUBPCase activity by NaCl. It also appeared after preparation of the purified enzymes for SDS–PAGE in the absence of β-mercaptoethanol, but this was reversible. The enzyme from the hardened source was less affected in the absence of reducing agent. Structural evidence was obtained for the previously reported cold hardening of the enzyme against freeze inactivation. A freeze–thaw cycle applied to the enzyme in vitro caused some polymerization of the large subunit and its anomalous polypeptide, in the absence of reducing agent, especially in the unhardened case. This increased with repeated cycles until the fifth cycle when the large subunit monomer and its satellite were abolished only in preparations from the unhardened source. These data indicate that the large subunit is a probable site of change that occurred in this enzyme during cold hardening.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document