黄瓜叶片生长期间内肽酶活性和同工酶变化及其生化特性

研究了黄瓜自然生长期间叶片可溶性蛋白质降解、内肽酶活性及其同工酶的变化,并对叶片衰老后期粗提液内肽酶的基本生化特性进行了研究.结果表明,黄瓜叶片内肽酶活性在叶片伸出5 d时较低,叶片衰老后期(叶片伸出35 d)显著升高,Rubisco蛋白发生明显降解;叶片全展以后叶片蛋白质含量与内肽酶活性显著负相关.黄瓜叶片粗提液总内肽酶的最适pH为7.0,最适温度为40 ℃,内肽酶活性可被Ca2 、Zn2 、半胱氨酸等激活.内肽酶抑制剂试验显示,丝氨酸类型的内肽酶活性占内肽酶总活性的57%左右.采用以明胶为底物的内肽酶梯度凝胶电泳活性染色方法,检测到叶片中至少有4种内肽酶同工酶,各同工酶在叶片生长过程中出现的时间和活性大小不同,丝氨酸型内肽酶同工酶活性随叶片生长明显增强,暗示该类内肽酶在黄瓜叶片衰老过程中可能具有重要作用.     

Changes in Endopeptidase Activity during Photosynthetic Declination in Rice Leaf

Two japonica rice varieties, Wuyujing 3 and 97-7, were used to study the changes in contents of soluble protein, free amino acids and endopeptidase activity during photosynthetic declination. The content of soluble protein in flag leaf of cv. Wuyujing 3 was higher than that of cv. 97-7, but decreased rapidly in Wuyujing 3. Free amino acids in flag leaf and the thirteenth leaf of Wuyujing 3 started to increase 10 days before the turning point of photosynthetic declination (TPPD), while it occurred just 1-2 days before TPPD in the flag leaf and the thirteenth leaf of 97-7. During reversible phase of photosynthetic declination, endopeptidase activity remained at a low level and increased slightly only in the later part of this phase. Then it rose up rapidly at irreversible decline phase and reached a very high level. For Wuyujing 3, the change in endopeptidase activity in the thirteenth leaf was parallel to that in flag leaf. However, for 97-7, the rapid increase of endopeptidase activity in the thirteenth leaf started later than that of flag leaf. The results implied that the rate of protein breakdown and conversion to transportable nitrogen in leaves of 97-7 was slower than that in leaves of Wuyujing 3 during photosynthetic declination and it led to relatively lower seed setting rate and fully filling grains rate in 97-7. This may be one of the important reasons why 97-7 could not bring the high yield potentiality into play and the findings may be taken into consideration while breeding for high potential varieties in future.     

Structure,chemical composition and enzymatic activities of pearlings and bran obtained from pearled wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by roller milling

While abrasive pearling (also referred to as debranning) of wheat kernels prior to milling increases the quality of the resultant flour for producing bread, the potential applications of the co-products of pearling is largely unknown. We studied the impact of different degrees of pearling (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12% by weight) on the composition of pearlings and bran obtained when subsequently roller milling pearled wheat kernels. Pearling does not remove the kernel outer tissues homogeneously as abrasion affects especially the accessible parts of the kernels. Nevertheless, the first 3% removed consisted of mainly pericarp. With 6% or more removed, a significant amount of starchy endosperm ended up in the pearlings. The starting bran material and bran obtained by subsequent roller milling of pearled wheat kernels had similar compositions but the latter had a lower average particle size. Moreover, removal of the outermost kernel layers substantially decreased the enzyme activity levels in the bran.     

Vaccine potential of a tick vitellin-degrading enzyme (VTDCE)

VTDCE (Vitelin-Degrading Cysteine Endopeptidase) is a peptidase with an active role in Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus embryogenesis. VTDCE is found in the tick's eggs and was shown to be the most active protein in vitellin (VT) hydrolysis of the three peptidases already characterized in R. microplus eggs (Boophilus Yolk pro-cathepsin (BYC), Tick Heme Binding Aspartic Proteinase (THAP) and VTDCE). VTDCE activity was assessed in vitro using the natural substrate and a synthetic substrate (N-Cbz-Phe-Arg-MCA). The activity was inhibited by anti-VTDCE antibodies. In the present study, it was shown that VTDCE acts differently from BYC and THAP in VT hydrolysis and that the vaccination of bovines with VTDCE induces a partial protective immune response against R. microplus infestation. Immunized bovines challenged with R. microplus larvae presented an overall protection of 21%, and a reduction in the weight of fertile eggs of 17.6% was observed. The data obtained indicate that VTDCE seems to be important for tick physiology, and that it induces partial protective immune response when inoculated in bovines. This suggests that VTDCE can be useful to improve the protective capacity observed for other antigens.