title: Evidence of active NADP(+) phosphatase in dormant seeds of Avena sativa L.
abstract: Freshly-harvested seeds of Avena sativa L. do not germinate when imbibed at temperatures higher than 25 degrees C. This high temperature dormancy is due to the seed coats, and to the low activities of glycolysis and the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (OPP) in the embryo. The analysis by exclusion chromatography of soluble NADP(+) phosphatase activities of embryos revealed two isoforms: a 37 kDa isoform present in both dormant and after-ripened caryopses, and a second isoform, with an apparent molecular weight of 160 kDa, five times more active in embryos of dormant seeds than in the after-ripened ones, after 6 h of imbibition at 30 degrees C. Moreover, the activity of this 160 kDa isoform was three times less in embryos from dormant caryopses when they were grown at 10 degrees C, a permissive temperature for radicle protrusion. These results suggest a correlation between the activity of the 160 kDa NADP(+) phosphatase and the dormancy state of the caryopsis. The two isoforms differed in the pH required for optimal activity: pH 5.7 and 6.5 for the 37 kDa and the 160 kDa phosphatases, respectively. Furthermore, the 160 kDa NADP(+) phosphatase displayed a strong specificity for NADP(+), whereas the 37 kDa isoform was able to hydrolyse numerous other phosphorylated compounds.
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire Végétales, EA 917, Université d'Angers, UFR Sciences, 2 Boulevard Lavoisier, 49045 Angers Cedex 01, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gallais
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Crescenzo
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Laval-Martin
mesh_terms: D018554:Avena / Q000201:enzymology*; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D046508:Culture Techniques; D009708:Nucleotidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012639:Seeds / Q000201:enzymology*; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000201:enzymology; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: C045660:NADP phosphatase; D009708:Nucleotidases