Abstract
The cellular amounts and cellular activities of acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC; EC 6.4.1.2.) were determined in the first leaves of diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid species of Triticum (wheat). Per leaf the ACC activities were very similar in T. monococcum (2 χ), T. dicoccum (4 χ) and T. aestivum (6 χ). The ACC activity per chloroplast also showed little variation between species of different ploidy but since chloroplast number increases with ploidy, the ACC activities and ACC amounts per cell also increased with ploidy. These cellular increases in ACC amounts associated with increases in gene dosage were highly co-ordinated in the diploids T. monococcum and T. tauschii and their respective autotetraploids so the specific activity of ACC was highly conserved in these plants. The relevance of these findings to attempts to genetically manipulate lipid biosynthesis in chloroplasts is discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- ACC:
-
acetyl CoA carboxylase
References
Boffey, S.A., Sellden, G., Leech, R.M. (1979) The influence of cell age on chlorophyll formation in light-grown and etiolated wheat seedlings. Plant Physiol. 65, 680–684
Brown, R., Rickless, P. (1949) A new method for the study of cell division and cell extension with some preliminary observations on the effect of temperature and of nutrients. Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. B. 136, 110–115
Dean, C., Leech, R.M. (1982a) Genome expression during normal leaf development. 1. Cellular and chloroplast numbers and DNA, RNA and protein levels in tissues of different ages within a seven-day old wheat leaf. Plant Physiol. 69, 904–910
Dean, C., Leech, R.M. (1982b) Genome expression during normal leaf development. 2. Direct correlation between ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase content and nuclear ploidy in a polyploid series of wheat. Plant Physiol. 70, 1606–1608
Gershoni, J.M., Palade, G.E. (1983) Protein blotting: principles and applications. Anal. Biochem. 131, 1–15
Harwood, J. (1988) Fatty acid metabolism. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 39, 101–138
Hawke, J.C., Leech, R.M. (1987) Acetyl-CoA-carboxylase activity in normally developing wheat leaves. Planta 171, 489–495
Jellings, A.J., Leech, R.M. (1982) The importance of quantitative anatomy in the interpretation of whole leaf biochemistry in species of Triticum, Hordeum and Avena. New Phytol. 92, 34–48
Jellings, A.J., Leech, R.M. (1984) Anatomical variation in the first leaves of nine Triticum genotypes and its relationship to photosynthetic capacity. New Phytol. 96, 371–382
Laemmli, U.K. (1970) Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature 227, 680–685
Leech, R.M., Leese, B.M., Jellings, A.J. (1985) Variations in cellular RuBPCase content in leaves of Triticum genotypes at three levels of ploidy. Planta 166, 259–263
Nikolau, B.J., Hawke, J.C. (1984) Purification and characterisation of maize leaf acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 228, 86–96
Nikolau, B.J., Slack, C.R., Hawke, J.C. (1981) Acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase in maize leaves. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 211, 605–612
Nikolau, B.J., Wurtele, E.S., Stumpf, P.K. (1984) Tissue distribution of acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase in leaves. Plant Physiol. 75, 895–901
Nikolau, B.J., Wurtele, E.S., Stumpf, P.K. (1985) Use of streptavidin to detect biotin-containing proteins in plants. Anal. Biochem. 149, 448–453
Pyke, K.A., Leech, R.M. (1987a) The control of chloroplast number in wheat mesophyll cells. Planta 170, 416–420
Pyke, K.A., Leech, R.M. (1987b) Cellular levels of ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate carboxylase and chloroplast compartment size in wheat mesophyll cells. J. Exp. Bot. 38, 1949–1956
Stadtman, E.R. (1957) Preparation and assay of acyl coenzyme A and other thiol esters: use of hydroxylamine. Methods Enzymol. 3, 931–941
Towbin, H., Staehelin, T., Gordon, J. (1979) Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets: procedure and some applications. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76, 4350–4354
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
We are very grateful to Dr. Kevin Pyke and Miss Jo Marrison for many helpful discussions and to Dr. Collin Law for the generous gift of seeds.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hawke, J.C., Leech, R.M. Acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase in species of Triticum of different ploidy. Planta 181, 543–546 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00193008
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00193008