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Metabolism and Enzymology

Cytokinin Oxidase from Phaseolus vulgaris Callus Tissues ¹

Enhanced in Vitro Activity of the Enzyme in the Presence of Copper-Imidazole Complexes

Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331

The effects of metal ions on cytokinin oxidase activity extracted from callus tissues of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv Great Northern have been examined using an assay based on the oxidation of N⁶-(²-isopentenyl)-adenine-2,8-³H (i⁶ Ade) to adenine (Ade). The addition of cupric ions to reaction mixtures containing imidazole buffer markedly enhanced cytokinin oxidase activity. In the presence of optimal concentrations of copper and imidazole, cytokinin oxidase activity was stimulated more than 20-fold. The effect was enzyme dependent, specific for copper, and observed only in the presence of imidazole. The substrate specificity of the copper-imidazole enhanced reaction, as judged by substrate competition tests, was the same as that observed in the absence of copper and imidazole. Similarly, in tests involving DEAE-cellulose chromatography, elution profiles of cytokinin oxidase activity determined using a copper-imidazole enhanced assay were identical to those obtained using an assay without copper and imidazole. On the basis of these results, the addition of copper and imidazole to reaction mixtures used to assay for cytokinin oxidase activity is judged to provide a reliable and specific assay of greatly enhanced sensitivity for the enzyme. The mechanism by which copper and imidazole enhance cytokinin oxidase activity is not certain, but the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme was not inhibited by anaerobic conditions when these reagents were present. This observation suggests that copper-imidazole complexes are substituting for oxygen in the reaction mechanism by which cytokinin oxidase effects cleavage of the N⁶-side chain of i⁶Ade.

¹ Supported by the Science and Education Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture under grant 86-CRCR-1-1988 from the Competitive Research Grants Office.

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