PLANT PHYSIOLOGY , Vol 106, Issue 1 223-232, Copyright © 1994 by American Society of Plant Biologists
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METABOLISM AND ENZYMOLOGY |
Purification and Characterization of a Potato Tuber Acid Phosphatase Having Significant Phosphotyrosine Phosphatase Activity
K. S. Gellatly, GBG. Moorhead, SMG. Duff, D. D. Lefebvre and W. C. Plaxton
Departments of Biology and Biochemistry, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6
The major acid phosphatase (APase) from potato (Solanum tuberosom L. cv
Chiefton) tubers has been purified 2289-fold to near homogeneity and a
final O-phospho-L-tyrosine (P-Tyr) hydrolyzing specific activity of 1917
[mu]mol Pi produced min-1 mg-1 of protein. Nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel
electrophoresis of the final preparation resolved a single protein-staining
band that co-migrated with APase activity. Following sodium dodecyl sulfate
polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, glycosylated polypeptides of 57 and 55
kD were observed. The two polypeptides are immunologically closely related,
since both proteins cross-reacted on immunoblots probed with rabbit
anti-(Brassica nigra APase) immunoglobulin G. Immunoblotting studies
revealed that the 55-kD subunit did not arise via proteolytic cleavage of
the 57-kD subunit after tissue extraction. The native molecular mass was
approximately 100 kD, suggesting that the holoenzyme could exist as either
a homodimer or a heterodimer. The enzyme displayed a pH optimum of 5.8, was
activated 40% by 4 mM Mg2+, and was potently inhibited by molybdate,
vanadate, and ZnCl2. The final preparation displayed the highest activity
and specificity constant with P-Tyr, but also dephosphorylated other
phosphomonoesters including p-nitrophenylphosphate, O-phospho-L-serine,
phosphoenolpyruvate, PPi, and ATP. Antibodies to P-Tyr were used to
demonstrate that several endogenous phosphotyrosylated tuber polypeptides
could serve as in vitro substrates for the purified APase. Although the
precise physiological significance of the potato APase's substantial in
vitro activity with P-Tyr remains obscure, the possibility that this APase
may function to dephosphorylate certain protein-located P-Tyr residues in
vivo is suggested.