Abstract
Summary 1. Peroxisomes and mitochondria were isolated from appendices of Arum italicum flowers using sorbitol-Ficoll (SF) medium and sorbitol-Ficoll-sucrose (SFS) gradients. 2. Electron microscopy of gradient fractions showed clean and intact preparations of mitochondria and peroxisomes. 3. The peroxisomes contained the enzymes catalase, urate oxidase, allantoicase and gluta-mate-oxalacetate transaminase. Allantoinase and NADH-glyoxylate reductase, which have already been localized in plant and animal peroxisomes, although present in the tissue were, for some reason, only slightly sedimentable. Citrate synthetase with the majority of sedimentable malate dehydrogenase and glutamate-pyruvate transaminase was restricted to the mitochondria. 4. The tissue contained no detectable activity of malate synthetase, isocitrate lyase, glycolate oxidase or glutamate-glyoxylate transaminase. 5. In view of its enzyme complement it seems unlikely that the Arum appendix peroxisome is involved in the reoxidation of cytoplasmic NADH produced during the rapid starch breakdown. 6. The concept of the plant peroxisome is discussed.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
