Variations of cell wall peroxidases in epicotyls of Cicer arietinum during growth

Abstract

Fractionation and partial purification of the proteins extracted from cell walls of Cicer arietinum epicotyl reveal the presence of two fractions with peroxidase activity, denominated Px-1 and Px-2 according to their order of elution from a SP-Sephadex chromatography column. The specific activity of the Px-2 fraction increases with the age of the epicotyls, with an inverse relationship to their growth capacity. No such a relationship could be found with the peroxidase activity of the Px-1 fractions. These results indicate that the cell wall peroxidase fraction Px-2 could be related to cell wall stiffening processes. According to this, acid pHs-values, which induce cell wall loosening processes, diminish the enzymatic activity of the Px-2 fraction to a considerable extent.