Abstract
The aim of this work was to investigate the fate of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) produced by decarboxylation of oxaloacetate during photosynthesis in the bundle sheaths of leaves of the PEP-carboxykinase C4 grass Spartina anglica Hubb. Mesophyll protoplasts and bundle sheath cells were separated enzymically and used to investigate activities and distributions of putative enzymes of the C4 cycle and the photosynthetic carbon metabolism of bundle sheath cells. The results indicate that neither conversion of PEP to pyruvate nor its conversion to 3-phosphoglycerate can account for all of the carbon flux through the C4 cycle during photosynthesis. It is likely, therefore, either that PEP moves directly from bundle sheath to mesophyll or that more than one pathway of regeneration of PEP is involved in the C4 cycle in this plant.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- Chl:
-
chlorophyll
- PEP:
-
phosphoenolpyruvate
- Pi:
-
phosphate
- RuBP:
-
ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate
References
Arnon, D.I. (1949) Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplasts. Polyphenoloxidase in Beta vulgaris. Plant Physiol. 24, 1–15
Burnell, J.N., Hatch, M.D. (1983) Dark-light regulation of pyruvate, Pi dikinase in C4 plants: evidence that the same protein catalyses activation and inactivation. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 111, 288–293
Chapman, K.S.R., Hatch, M.D. (1983) Intracellular location of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and other C4 photosynthetic enzymes in mesophyll and bundle sheath protoplasts of Panicum maximum. Plant Sci. Lett. 29, 145–154
Edwards, G.E., Huber, S.C. (1981) The C4 pathway. In: The biochemistry of plants, vol. 8: Photosynthesis, pp. 237–281, Hatch, M.D., Boardman, N.K., eds. Academic Press, New York London
Edwards, G.E., Kanai, R., Black, C.C. (1971) Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in leaves of certain plants which fix CO2 by the C4-dicarboxylic acid cycle of photosynthesis. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 45, 278–285
Edwards, G.E., Ku, M.S.B., Hatch, M.D. (1982) Photosynthesis in Panicum milioides, a species with reduced photorespiration. Plant Cell Physiol. 23, 1185–1195
Hatch, M.D. (1976) The C4 pathway of photosynthesis: mechanism and function. In: CO2 metabolism and plant productivity, pp. 59–81, Burris, R.H., Black, C.C., eds. University Park Press, Baltimore, Pa.
Hatch, M.D. (1979) Mechanism of C4 photosynthesis in Chloris gayana: pool sizes and kinetics of 14CO2 incorporation into 4-carbon and 3-carbon intermediates. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 194, 117–127
Hatch, M.D., Kagawa, T. (1976) Photosynthetic activities of isolated bundle sheath cells in relation to differing mechanisms of C4-pathway photosynthesis. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 175, 39–53
Hatch, M.D., Mau, S.-L. (1973) Activity, location and role of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase isoenzymes in leaves with C4 pathway photosynthesis. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 156, 195–206
Hatch, M.D., Slack, C.R. (1970) The C4-dicarboxylic acid pathway of photosynthesis. Prog. Phytochem. 2, 35–106
Hatch, M.D., Slack, C.R. (1975) Pyruvate, Pi dikinase from leaves. Methods Enzymol. 42, 212–219
Huber, S.C., Edwards, G.E. (1975) Regulation of oxaloacetate, aspartate, and malate formation in mesophyll protoplast extracts of three types of C4 plants. Plant Physiol. 50, 324–331
Ireland, R.J., DeLuca, V., Dennis, D.T. (1979) Isoenzymes of pyruvate kinase in etioplasts and chloroplasts. Plant Physiol. 63, 903–907
Ireland, R.J., DeLuca, V., Dennis, D.T. (1980) Characterization and kinetics of isoenzymes of pyruvate kinase from developing castor bean endosperm. Plant Physiol. 65, 1188–1193
Leight, R.A., ap Rees, T., Fuller, W.A., Banfield, J. (1979) The location of acid invertase activity and sucrose in the vacuoles of storage roots of beetroot (Beta vulgaris). Biochem. J. 178, 539–547
Lowry, O.H., Passonneau, J.V. (1972) A flexible system of enzymatic analysis. Academic Press, New York London
Miernyk, J., Dennis, D.T. (1982) Isozymes of the glycolytic enzymes in endosperm from developing castor oil seeds. Plant Physiol 69, 825–828
Nakamoto, H., Edwards, G.E. (1983) Influence of oxygen and temperature on the dark inactivation of pyruvate, orthophosphate dikinase and NADP-malate dehydrogenase in maize. Plant Physiol. 71, 568–573
Rathnam, C.K.M., Edwards, G.E. (1977) C4-dicarboxylic acid metabolism in bundle-sheath chloroplasts, mitochondria and strands of Eriochloa borumensis Hack., a phosphoenol-pyruvate-carboxykinase type C4 species. Planta 133, 135–144
Ray, T.B., Black, C.C. (1976) Inhibition of oxaloacetate decarboxylation during C4 photosynthesis by 3-mercaptopicolinic acid. J. Biol. Chem. 251, 5824–5826
Smith, A.M., Jones, D.A., Woolhouse, H.W. (1982) Photosynthetic carbon metabolism of the cool-temperate C4 grass Spartina anglica Hubb. Planta 156, 441–448
Stokes, D.M., Walker, D.A. (1972) Photosynthesis by isolated chloroplasts. Inhibition by D,L-glyceraldehyde of carbon dioxide assimilation. Biochem. J. 128, 1147–1157
Sugiyama, T., Schmitt, M.R., Ku, S.B., Edwards, G.E. (1979) Differences in cold lability of pyruvate, Pi dikinase among C4 species. Plant Cell Physiol. 20, 965–971
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smith, A.M., Woolhouse, H.W. Metabolism of phosphoenolpyruvate in the C4 cycle during photosynthesis in the phosphoenolpyruvate-carboxykinase C4 grass Spartina anglica Hubb.. Planta 159, 570–578 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00409147
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00409147