Prunus serotina Amygdalin Hydrolase and Prunasin Hydrolase

Abstract

In black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) seed homogenates, amygdalin hydrolase (AH) participates with prunasin hydrolase (PH) and mandelonitrile lyase in the sequential degradation of (R)-amygdalin to HCN, benzaldehyde, and glucose. Four isozymes of AH (designated AH I, I', II, II') were purified from mature cherry seeds by concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, and chromatofocusing. All isozymes were monomeric glycoproteins with native molecular masses of 52 kD. They showed similar kinetic properties (pH optima, K(m), V(max)) but differed in their isoelectric points and N-terminal amino acid sequences. Analytical isoelectric focusing revealed the presence of subisozymes of each isozyme. The relative abundance of these isozymes and/or subisozymes varied from seed to seed. Three isozymes of PH (designated PH I, IIa, and IIb) were purified to apparent homogeneity by affinity, ion-exchange, and hydroxyapatite chromatography and by nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. PH I and PH IIb are 68-kD monomeric glycoproteins, whereas PH IIa is dimeric (140 kD). The N-terminal sequences of all PH and AH isozymes showed considerable similarity. Polyclonal antisera raised in rabbits against deglycosylated AH I or a mixture of the three deglycosylated PH isozymes were not monospecific as judged by immunoblotting analysis, but also cross-reacted with the opposing glucosidase. Monospecific antisera deemed suitable for immunocytochemistry and screening of expression libraries were obtained by affinity chromatography. Each antiserum recognized all known isozymes of the specific glucosidase used as antigen.