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Articles

Phosphofructokinase Activities in Photosynthetic Organisms ¹

The Occurrence of Pyrophosphate-Dependent 6-Phosphofructokinase in Plants and Algae

Department of Botany and Department of Biochemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30601

A pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase (PPi-PFK) activity is detectable in extracts of a wide variety of primitive and advanced plants, the Charalean algae, and in the photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodospirillum rubrum. Angiosperms with extractable PPi-PFK activities 4- to 70-fold higher than the respective ATP-PFK activities tend to be succulent and to exhibit CAM. Even though PPi-PFK activity is not detected in crude extracts of some well known CAM plants, e.g. plants in the Crassulaceae, gel filtration of the extract and/or inclusion of the PPi-PFK activator, fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, in the assay reveals that a PPi-PFK activity is present in these species. Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate likewise activates PPi-PFK activities in extracts of C₃ and C₄ plants. C₃ and C₄ plant PPi-PFK activities are roughly equivalent to ATP-PFK activities in the same species. PPi-PFK activity is also detected in some bryophytes, lower vascular plants, ferns, and gymnosperms. The Charophytes, advanced algae presumed to be similar to species ancestral to vascular plants, exhibit at least 4-fold higher PPi-PFK than ATP-PFK activities. R. rubrum also exhibits a much higher PPi-PFK activity than ATP-PFK activity. These data indicate that PPi-PFK may serve as an alternate enzyme to ATP-PFK in glycolysis in a wide range of photosynthetic organisms.

¹ Supported by National Science Foundation Grant PCM 8023949.

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