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  1. Assays for the activities of polyamine biosynthetic enzymes using intact tissues

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    Author(s): Rakesh Minocha; Stephanie Long; Hisae Maki; Subhash C. Minocha
    Date: 1999
    Source: Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 37: 597-603.
    Publication Series: Scientific Journal (JRNL)
    Station: Northern Research Station
    PDF: View PDF  (729.97 KB)

    Description

    Traditionally, most enzyme assays utilize homogenized cell extracts with or without dialysis. Homogenization and centrifugation of large numbers of samples for screening of mutants and transgenic cell lines is quite cumbersome and generally requires sufficiently large amounts (hundreds of milligrams) of tissue. However, in situations where the tissue is available in small quantities, or one needs to study changes in enzyme activities during development (e.g. somatic embryogenesis), it is desirable to have rapid and reproducible assay methods that utilize only a few milligrams of tissue and can be conducted without homogenization. Here, we report a procedure for the measurement of enzyme activities of the three key decarboxylases involved in polyamine biosynthesis utilizing small quantities of plant tissue without the homogenization and centrifugation steps. Suspension cultures of red spruce (Picea rubens (Sarg.)), hybrid poplar (Populus nigra x maximowiczii), and wild carrot (Daucus carota) were used directly to measure decarboxylation of omithine, arginine and S-adenosylmethionine. Our results demonstrate that this procedure can be used to quantify the activities of arginine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.19), omithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17) and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.l.50) in a manner quite comparable to the traditional assays for these enzymes that involve laborious steps of homogenization and centrifugation.

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    Citation

    Minocha, Rakesh; Long, Stephanie; Maki, Hisae; Minocha, Subhash C. 1999. Assays for the activities of polyamine biosynthetic enzymes using intact tissues. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 37: 597-603.

    Keywords

    ADC, carrot, enzyme assays, ODC, polyamines, SAMDC, trees

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