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PubMed2002

Compartmentalization of macrophage inflammatory protein-2, but not cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant, in rats challenged with intratracheal endotoxin.

An important feature of the pulmonary inflammatory response is that the production of certain cytokines and chemokines is largely confined to the lung. This study investigated the local and systemic responses of macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2) and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC) in rats administered with either intratracheal or intravenous lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Intratracheal LPS induced a significant increase in MIP-2 in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid with no detectable MIP-2 in the plasma. In contrast, CINC was significantly increased in both BAL fluid and the plasma after intratracheal LPS challenge. Cell-associated MIP-2 was increased in the pulmonary-recruited neutrophils (PMNs) but not in the circulating PMNs in rats given intratracheal LPS. Cell-associated CINC was increased in both the recruited and circulating PMNs in these animals. Intravenous LPS caused a marked increase in plasma MIP-2 and CINC, whereas only a small elevation of both MIP-2 and CINC concentrations in BAL fluid was observed. The lack of CINC compartmentalization compared to MIP-2 implies that these C-X-C chemokines are regulated differentially and may have different effects upon polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) recruitment into the alveolar space in response to intrapulmonary LPS or bacterial challenge.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Compartmentalization of HIV-1 in the central nervous system: role of the choroid plexus.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the genetic and phenotypic composition of HIV-1 found in the choroid plexus (CPx) and its relationship to virus in the brain and peripheral lymphoid tissue. DESIGN: Phenotypic and molecular comparisons of HIV-1 found in autopsy brain, CPx, and spleen tissues. METHODS: HIV-1 was co-cultured from matched postmortem brain (basal ganglia), CPx, and spleen tissues of AIDS patients with and without HIV-associated encephalitis and dementia. Viral phenotypes were determined by infection of monocyte-derived macrophages, MT-2 or co-receptor-specific cell lines. Viral env and pol sequences were determined from genomic DNA isolated directly from tissues or co-cultures, and phylogenetic comparisons were performed. RESULTS: CCR5-utilization was the most prevalent viral tropism found in all tissues, although spleen isolates also displayed CXCR4 usage. Viruses isolated from CPx consisted of both peripheral and brain-like virus, but were more related phenotypically and genetically to those found in the brain. Mutations found in the pol gene that could confer drug resistance to brain and CPx isolates were similar to those found in the periphery. CONCLUSION: The CPx contained replication-competent virus that was most similar, although distinct, from that found in the brain. It also contained some viruses with high similarity to those of peripheral origin. Compartmentalization of viral env and pol sequences indicated that differential selective pressures exist in each tissue examined. These studies suggest that the CPx may provide an environment that promotes the evolution of drug-resistant strains with central nervous system tropism, although it is unlikely to be a reservoir for archival HIV-1 variants.

AIDS Dementia Complex↗
PubMed2000

Cadmium uptake and subcellular compartmentation in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus.

Cadmium uptake and subcellular compartmentation in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus were investigated using radiotracer flux analyses. Concentration-dependent Cd2+-uptake kinetics were characterized by a smooth, non-saturating curve that could be dissected into linear and saturable components. The linear-uptake kinetic component was interpreted as representing binding of Cd to apoplastic components, whereas the remaining saturable component was the result of carrier-mediated transport across the plasma membrane. Cell-wall-bound Cd was almost completely removed during desorption from cell-wall preparations. Cd2+ desorption from intact mycelium was found to be a function of time involving three compartments corresponding in series to cell wall (50%), cytoplasm (30%) and vacuole (20%), when mycelia were exposed to a 0.05 microM Cd concentration. At 4 degrees C, most of the Cd recovered was due to the cell-wall-bound fraction, suggesting that transport across the plasma membrane is a metabolically mediated process. Carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) inhibited Cd accumulation in P. involutus mycelia by up to 28%, which indicates that transport of Cd2+ was partially dependent on the membrane potential. Cd2+ uptake into symplasm is linked to Ca2+ transport, as revealed by the inhibition of Cd accumulation by the Ca2+ ionophore A23187. The present work demonstrates the ability of the ectomycorrhizal fungus P. involutus to take up and further accumulate Cd in different compartments. Binding of Cd onto cell walls and accumulation of Cd in the vacuolar compartment may be regarded as two essential metal-detoxification mechanisms. These data represent a first step towards the understanding of metal-tolerance mechanisms in mycorrhizal fungi.

Cadmium↗
PubMed2005

A death round affecting a young compartmentalized mycelium precedes aerial mycelium dismantling in confluent surface cultures of Streptomyces antibioticus.

Development-associated cell-death processes were investigated in detail during the growth and differentiation of Streptomyces antibioticus ATCC 11891 on confluent surface cultures, by using fluorescent viability probes, membrane and activity fluorescence indicators, and electron microscopy analysis. A previously unsuspected complexity was revealed, namely the presence of a very young compartmentalized mycelium that dies following an orderly pattern, leaving alternating live and dead segments in the same hypha. This death round is followed by the growth of a second mycelium which develops rapidly from the live segments of the first mycelium and dies massively in a second death round, which extends over the phases of aerial mycelium formation and sporulation.

Cell Membrane Permeability↗
PubMed1991

Inactivation of a sperm motility gene by insertion of an epidermal growth factor receptor transgene whose product is overexpressed and compartmentalized during spermatogenesis.

Transgenic mice were generated with a human epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor cDNA driven by the chicken beta-actin gene promoter. One line (AE24) that exhibited a unique expression pattern in which dramatically elevated levels of EGF receptor RNA were found only in the testis was established, suggesting that the beta-actin promoter was being influenced by an adjacent testis-specific enhancer. EGF receptor RNA was detected in primary spermatocytes, whereas the synthesis of receptor protein was restricted to elongate spermatids, indicating that transgene expression was under translational control. At spermiation, the EGF receptor was sequestered in residual bodies and excluded from mature sperm by a compartmentalization mechanism. About half of AE24 homozygous males were sterile because of sperm paralysis, whereas heterozygous males and females of either genotype were completely fertile. Electron microscopic analysis of sperm flagella from sterile AE24 homozygotes revealed an aberrant axonemal structure in which outer doublet microtubules were missing from the middle piece, resembling changes observed in the sperm of some infertile humans. Flagellar axonemal disassembly was observed in the vas deferens and epididymis but not in the testis, suggesting that outer doublets were assembled in a grossly normal manner but possessed a latent instability. These results demonstrate that in the AE24 mouse line the EGF receptor transgene was integrated into and inactivated an endogenous autosomal gene, causing sperm flagellar axonemal disruption and male sterility.

Actins↗
PubMed2002

Moment ratios for an urn model of sand compartmentalization.

Numerically solving a master equation for a recently introduced nonequilibrium urn model of sand compartmentalization, we show that the order-parameter moment ratios of the fourth and sixth order remain constant along an exactly located line of critical points. Obtained values are in very good agreement with values predicted by Brézin and Zinn-Justin for the equilibrium Ising model above the critical dimension. At the tricritical point, these ratios acquire values that also agree with a suitably extended Brézin and Zinn-Justin approach.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Compartmentation Analysis of Paraquat Fluxes in Maize Roots as a Means of Estimating the Rate of Vacuolar Accumulation and Translocation to Shoots.

Efflux analysis conducted after five loading periods of various lengths (2, 6, 12, 18, or 24 h) was used to investigate uptake, compartmentation, and translocation of [14C]paraquat in maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings. The time course for net paraquat uptake (paraquat concentration in uptake solution = 25[mu]M) into maize roots was linear (56.7 nmol g-1 root fresh weight h-1) for 24 h. Estimates of changes in paraquat content in the vacuole, cytoplasm, and cell wall after 2-, 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-h loading periods indicated that the cell wall saturated rapidly, whereas accumulation of paraquat into the vacuole increased linearly (12.4 nmol g-1 root fresh weight h-1) over 24 h. In contrast to vacuolar accumulation, cytoplasmic paraquat content appeared to approach saturation. The half-time for paraquat efflux from the cell wall (16.6 min [plus or minus] 1.2 SD) and cytoplasm (58.8 min [plus or minus] 8.9 SD remained relatively constant regardless of the length of the loading period, whereas the half-time for efflux from the vacuole was considerably longer and increased linearly with increased loading time (6.1-18.7 h). The time course for paraquat translocation to the shoot was linear within a 24-h exposure to radiolabeled herbicide, but translocation did not begin until 5 h after initiation of treatment. The experimental approach used in these experiments provides a valuable method for examining the movement of paraquat in maize seedlings. Results indicate that the herbicide slowly accumulates in the vacuole of root cells but is also translocated to the shoot.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

The sources of carbon and nitrogen supplying leaf growth. Assessment of the role of stores with compartmental models.

Patterns of synthesis and breakdown of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stores are relatively well known. But the role of mobilized stores as substrates for growth remains less clear. In this article, a novel approach to estimate C and N import into leaf growth zones was coupled with steady-state labeling of photosynthesis ((13)CO(2)/(12)CO(2)) and N uptake ((15)NO(3)(-)/(14)NO(3)(-)) and compartmental modeling of tracer fluxes. The contributions of current C assimilation/N uptake and mobilization from stores to the substrate pool supplying leaf growth were then quantified in plants of a C(3) (Lolium perenne) and C(4) grass (Paspalum dilatatum Poir.) manipulated thus to have contrasting C assimilation and N uptake rates. In all cases, leaf growth relied largely on photoassimilates delivered either directly after fixation or short-term storage (turnover rate = 1.6-3.3 d(-1)). Long-term C stores (turnover rate < 0.09 d(-1)) were generally of limited relevance. Hence, no link was found between the role of stores and C acquisition rate. Short-term (turnover rate = 0.29-0.90 d(-1)) and long-term (turnover rate < 0.04 d(-1)) stores supplied most N used in leaf growth. Compared to dominant (well-lit) plants, subordinate (shaded) plants relied more on mobilization from long-term N stores to support leaf growth. These differences correlated well with the C-to-N ratio of growth substrates and were associated with responses in N uptake. Based on this, we argue that internal regulation of N uptake acts as a main determinant of the importance of mobilized long-term stores as a source of N for leaf growth.

Carbon↗
PubMed1994

Tissue Level Compartmentation of (R)-Amygdalin and Amygdalin Hydrolase Prevents Large-Scale Cyanogenesis in Undamaged Prunus Seeds.

Plum (Prunus domestica) seeds, which contain the cyanogenic diglucoside (R)-amygdalin and lesser amounts of the corresponding monoglucoside (R)-prunasin, release the respiratory toxin HCN upon tissue disruption. Amygdalin hydrolase (AH) and prunasin hydrolase (PH), two specific [beta]-glucosidases responsible for hydrolysis of these glucosides, were purified to near homogeneity by concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B and carboxymethyl-cellulose chromatography. Both proteins appear as polypeptides with molecular masses of 60 kD upon sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, but they exhibit different isoelectric points (PH, 5.6-6.0; AH, 7.8-8.2). AH and PH were localized within mature plum seeds by tissue printing, histochemistry, and silver-enhanced immunogold labeling. As was previously shown in black cherry (Prunus serotina) seeds (E.Swain, C.P. Li, J.E. Poulton [1992] Plant Physiol 100: 291-300), AH and PH are restricted to protein bodies of specific procambial cells and are absent from the cotyledonary parenchyma, bundle sheath, and endosperm cells. In contrast, the cyanogenic glycosides in both plum and black cherry seeds, which were detected by tissue printing, occur solely in the cotyledonary parenchyma and are absent from the procambium and endosperm. It is concluded that tissue level compartmentation prevents large-scale cyanoglycoside hydrolysis in intact Prunus seeds.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1994

Regulation of Sterol Content in Membranes by Subcellular Compartmentation of Steryl-Esters Accumulating in a Sterol-Overproducing Tobacco Mutant.

The study of sterol overproduction in tissues of LAB 1-4 mutant tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Xanthi) (P. Maillot-Vernier, H. Schaller, P. Benveniste, G. Belliard [1989] Biochem Biophys Res Commun 165: 125-130) over several generations showed that the overproduction phenotype is stable in calli, with a 10-fold stimulation of sterol content when compared with wild-type calli. However, leaves of LAB 1-4 plants obtained after two steps of self-fertilization were characterized by a mere 3-fold stimulation, whereas calli obtained from these plants retained a typical sterol-overproducing mutant phenotype (i.e. a 10-fold increase of sterol content). These results suggest that the expression of the LAB 1-4 phenotype is dependent on the differentiation state of cells. Most of the sterols accumulating in the mutant tissues were present as steryl-esters, which were minor species in wild-type tissues. Subcellular fractionation showed that in both mutant and wild-type tissues, free sterols were associated mainly with microsomal membranes. In contrast, the bulk of steryl-esters present in mutant tissues was found in the soluble fraction of cells. Numerous lipid droplets were detected in the hyaloplasm of LAB 1-4 cells by cytochemical and cytological techniques. After isolation, these lipid granules were shown to contain steryl-esters. These results show that the overproduced sterols of mutant tissues accumulate as steryl-esters in hyaloplasmic bodies. The esterification process thus allows regulation of the amount of free sterols in membranes by subcellular compartmentation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Potassium Fluxes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (II. Compartmental Analysis).

42K+ and 86Rb+ were used to determine the subcellular distribution of potassium in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by compartmental analysis. In both wild type and a mutant strain, three distinct compartments (referred to as I, II, and III) were apparent. Using 42K+, we found that these had half-lives for K+ exchange of 1.07 min, 12.8 min, and 2.9 h, respectively, in wild-type cells and 0.93 min, 14.7 min, and 9.8 h, respectively, for the mutants. Half-lives were not significantly different when 86Rb+ was used to trace K+. Compartments I and II probably correspond to the cell wall and cytoplasm, respectively. Based on the lack of a large central vacuole in Chlamydomonas, the effect of a dark pretreatment on the kinetic properties of compartment III and the similarity between the [K+] of compartment III and that of isolated chloroplasts, this slowly exchanging compartment was identified as the chloroplast. Growth of wild-type cells at 100 [mu]M (instead of 10 mM K+) caused no change of cytoplasmic [K+] but reduced chloroplast [K+] very substantially. The mutants failed to grow at 100 [mu]M K+.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Cellular compartmentation of zinc in leaves of the hyperaccumulator thlaspi caerulescens

Cellular compartmentation of Zn in the leaves of the hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens was investigated using energy-dispersive x-ray microanalysis and single-cell sap extraction. Energy-dispersive x-ray microanalysis of frozen, hydrated leaf tissues showed greatly enhanced Zn accumulation in the epidermis compared with the mesophyll cells. The relative Zn concentration in the epidermal cells correlated linearly with cell length in both young and mature leaves, suggesting that vacuolation of epidermal cells may promote the preferential Zn accumulation. The results from single-cell sap sampling showed that the Zn concentrations in the epidermal vacuolar sap were 5 to 6.5 times higher than those in the mesophyll sap and reached an average of 385 mM in plants with 20,000 &mgr;g Zn g-1 dry weight of shoots. Even when the growth medium contained no elevated Zn, preferential Zn accumulation in the epidermal vacuoles was still evident. The concentrations of K, Cl, P, and Ca in the epidermal sap generally decreased with increasing Zn. There was no evidence of association of Zn with either P or S. The present study demonstrates that Zn is sequestered in a soluble form predominantly in the epidermal vacuoles in T. caerulescens leaves and that mesophyll cells are able to tolerate up to at least 60 mM Zn in their sap.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Characterization and subcellular compartmentation of recombinant 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase from Arabidopsis in transgenic tobacco.

4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (4HPPD) catalyzes the formation of homogentisate (2,5-dihydroxyphenylacetate) from p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate and molecular oxygen. In plants this enzyme activity is involved in two distinct metabolic processes, the biosynthesis of prenylquinones and the catabolism of tyrosine. We report here the molecular and biochemical characterization of an Arabidopsis 4HPPD and the compartmentation of the recombinant protein in chlorophyllous tissues. We isolated a 1508-bp cDNA with one large open reading frame of 1338 bp. Southern analysis strongly suggested that this Arabidopsis 4HPPD is encoded by a single-copy gene. We investigated the biochemical characteristics of this 4HPPD by overproducing the recombinant protein in Escherichia coli JM105. The subcellular localization of the recombinant 4HPPD in chlorophyllous tissues was examined by overexpressing its complete coding sequence in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), using Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation. We performed western analyses for the immunodetection of protein extracts from purified chloroplasts and total leaf extracts and for the immunocytochemistry on tissue sections. These analyses clearly revealed that 4HPPD was confined to the cytosol compartment, not targeted to the chloroplast. Western analyses confirmed the presence of a cytosolic form of 4HPPD in cultured green Arabidopsis cells.

4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate Dioxygenase↗
PubMed1969

Compartmentation of malate in relation to ion absorption in beet.

Malate in beet discs treated in different salt solutions was labeled by a 30 min pulse of (14)CO(2), and subsequent changes in specific activity were followed for several hr. In treatments which resulted in net acid synthesis in response to excess cation absorption, malate specific activity fell slowly after removal of (14)CO(2). In solutions where no net acid synthesis occurred, and from which cation and anion were absorbed equally, malate specific activity fell rapidly when (14)CO(2) was removed. The foregoing suggests that the net synthesis of organic acids in response to excess cation absorption leads to the removal of organic anions from cytoplasmic metabolic pools as counter-ions in salt transport to the vacuole.The latter hypothesis was further examined by direct measurement of the distribution of labeled malate between cytoplasm and vacuole using the wash-exchange method of compartmental analysis, previously described for inorganic ions. The method satisfied the criterion of exchange specificity necessary for this purpose. Much higher retention of label in the cytoplasm was observed in KCl solutions (no net synthesis) than in K(2)SO(4) solutions (net synthesis) after 3 hr (14)CO(2) fixation and subsequent wash-exchange. The observed distribution is consistent with the rapid removal of organic anions to the vacuole during net acid synthesis. The significance of organic acid transport in relation to metabolism is discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1978

Pyrimidine Metabolism in Lemna minor: I. Functional Compartmentation of Chloroplast Pyrimidine Metabolism in a Higher Plant.

Cytidine deoxyriboside (Cdr), uridine deoxyriboside (Udr), and guanosine deoxyriboside (Gdr), induce quantitative bleaching of the fronds of Lemna minor (duckweed) during growth in continuous light on photoheterotrophic medium. Cdr-induced bleaching is not accompanied by a reduction in frond multiplication rate, but Udr- and Gdr-induced bleaching is. Bleaching by Cdr is fully prevented by thymidine (Tdr), cytidine (Cr), or uridine (Ur), but not by orotic acid (OA) which itself inhibits growth. Bleaching by Udr is not antagonized by Tdr, Cdr, Cr, Ur, or OA. The ability of Cdr to induce phenocopies of chlorophyll-deficient mutants in the absence of effect on growth rate is interpreted as indicating a functional compartmentation of pyrimidine metabolism between chloroplast and whole cell. On the assumption that Cdr induces bleaching by regulating the biosynthesis of deoxynucleoside triphosphates, and in analogy with the antagonism of fluorodeoxyuridine effects on growth by Tdr, Cr, or Ur, the suggestion is made that deoxycytidine is converted to thymidylate by a step other than that utilizing thymidylate synthetase.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1979

Sulfur assimilation in c(4) plants: intercellular compartmentation of adenosine 5'-triphosphate sulfurylase in crabgrass leaves.

The activity of adenosine 5' triphosphate sulfurylase was determined in crabgrass mesophyll cells, bundle sheath strands, and whole leaf extracts. The enzyme was assayed by following molybdate-dependent pyrophosphate release from ATP, (35)SO(4) (2-) incorporation into adenosine 5' phosphosulfate, and ATP synthesis dependent upon adenosine 5' phosphosulfate and inorganic pyrophosphate. With all assays, greater than 90% of the activity was found in extracts from bundle sheath strands. The activities in whole leaf extracts were consistently intermediate between the activities of mesophyll and bundle sheath extracts and extract-mixing experiments gave no indication of enzyme activation or inhibition in vitro. Whole leaf activities were several hundred-fold less than concurrent measurements of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activities, which is interpreted as being consistent with the relative amounts of elemental carbon and sulfur found in higher plants. A hypothesis is presented for the intercellular compartmentation of sulfur assimilation in relationship to NO(3) (-) and CO(2) assimilation in leaves of C(4) plants.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1981

Differential compartmentation of gibberellin a(1) and its metabolites in vacuoles of cowpea and barley leaves.

The metabolism and efflux of gibberellin A(1) (GA(1)) taken up by leaves of cowpea (Vigna sinensis cv. Blackeye pea No. 5), as well as the distribution of GA(1) metabolites in the protoplasts and vacuoles of cowpea and barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Numar), were studied.GA(1) is metabolized rapidly in cowpea leaf discs to products tentatively identified as gibberellin A(8) (GA(8)) and gibberellin A(8) glucoside (GA(8)-glu). After labeling leaf discs with [(3)H]GA(1) for 1 hour, the release of radioactivity from the leaf was followed. Over a 12-hour period, the level of radioisotope in the tissue declined to about 35% of the original, after which no further release was observed. At this time, almost all of the radioactivity remaining in the leaf was GA(8)-glu, while most of the radioactivity which had been released was unmetabolized GA(1).Mesophyll protoplasts and vacuoles were isolated from cowpea and barley leaves previously fed [(3)H]GA(1). These protoplasts retain the ability to metabolize GA(1), indicating that neither the leaf structure nor the cell wall is necessary for this metabolism. A higher proportion of GA(8)-glu was found in the vacuoles relative to the entire protoplasts. The results obtained suggest that GA(1) metabolites are preferentially compartmentalized in the vacuoles relative to GA(1).

Journal Article↗
PubMed1981

Photosynthetic Characteristics of Portulaca grandiflora, a Succulent C(4) Dicot : CELLULAR COMPARTMENTATION OF ENZYMES AND ACID METABOLISM.

The succulent, cylindrical leaves of the C(4) dicot Portulaca grandiflora possess three distinct green cell types: bundle sheath cells (BSC) in radial arrangement around the vascular bundles; mesophyll cells (MC) in an outer layer adjacent to the BSC; and water storage cells (WSC) in the leaf center. Unlike typical Kranz leaf anatomy, the MC do not surround the bundle sheath tissue but occur only in the area between the bundle sheath and the epidermis. Intercellular localization of photosynthetic enzymes was characterized using protoplasts isolated enzymatically from all three green cell types.Like other C(4) plants, P. grandiflora has ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and the decarboxylating enzyme, NADP(+)-malic enzyme, in the BSC. Unlike other C(4) plants, however, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, pyruvate, Pi dikinase, and NADP(+)-malate dehydrogenase of the C(4) pathway were present in all three green cell types, indicating that all are capable of fixing CO(2) via phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and regenerating phosphoenolpyruvate. Other enzymes were about equally distributed between MC and BSC similar to other C(4) plants. The enzyme profile of the WSC was similar to that of the MC but with reduced activity in most enzymes, except mitochondrion-associated enzymes.Intracellular localization of enzymes was studied in organelles partitioned by differential centrifugation using mechanically ruptured mesophyll and bundle sheath protoplasts. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase was a cytosolic enzyme in both cells; whereas, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and NADP(+)-malic enzyme were exclusively compartmentalized in the bundle sheath chloroplasts. NADP(+)-malate dehydrogenase, pyruvate, Pi dikinase, aspartate aminotransferase, 3-phosphoglycerate kinase, and NADP(+)-triose-P dehydrogenase were predominantly localized in the chloroplasts while alanine aminotransferase and NAD(+)-malate dehydrogenase were mainly present in the cytosol of both cell types. Based on enzyme localization, a scheme of C(4) photosynthesis in P. grandiflora is proposed.Well-watered plants of P. grandiflora exhibit a diurnal fluctuation of total titratable acidity, with an amplitude of 61 and 54 microequivalent per gram fresh weight for the leaves and stems, respectively. These changes were in parallel with changes in malic acid concentration in these tissues. Under severe drought conditions, diurnal changes in both titratable acidity and malic acid concentration in both leaves and stems were much reduced. However, another C(4) dicot Amaranthus graecizans (nonsucculent) did not show any diurnal acid fluctuation under the same conditions. These results confirm the suggestion made by Koch and Kennedy (Plant Physiol. 65: 193-197, 1980) that succulent C(4) dicots can exhibit an acid metabolism similar to Crassulacean acid metabolism plants in certain environments.

Journal Article↗