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2-carboxy-D-arabinitoI-l-phosphate (CAIP) bound toRubisco eitber in leaf extracts or after purification can be displaced by SO4^ ions. Tbus, treatment of leaf extracts witb a buffer containing 200 mol m"^d isplaces any 4 p y bound CAIP and enables measurement of maximum carboxylation potential. In tobacco leaves, tbe activity following treatment witb SO4^ ions ('maximal activity') is greater tban tbe total Rubisco activity. Tbe ratio of tbe two activities altered in a dynamic way witb fluctuations in irradiance. Even in species wbicb do not produce significant amounts of CAIP, tbe maximal activity greatly exceeded tbe total activity. Anion excbange separation of components in acid extracts confirmed tbe absence of CAIP in tobacco leaves barvested above an irradiance of 300 //mol quanta m"^ s~*, but tbe presence of anotber inbibitor of Rubisco. Tbese results are consistent witb tbe regulation of Rubisco activity by inbibitors otber tban CAIP wbicb, like CAIP, can be displaced by SO4^~ ions.

During photosynthesis, part of the fixed carbon is directed into the synthesis of transitory starch, which serves as an intermediate carbon storage facility in chloroplasts. This transitory starch is mobilized during the night. Increasing evidence indicates that the main route of starch breakdown proceeds by way of hydrolytic enzymes and results in glucose formation. This pathway requires a glucose translocator to mediate the export of glucose from the chloroplasts. We have reexamined the kinetic properties of the plastidic glucose translocator and, using a differential labeling procedure, have identified the glucose translocator as a component of the inner envelope membrane. Peptide sequence information derived from this protein was used to isolate cDNA clones encoding a putative plastidic glucose translocator from spinach, potato, tobacco, Arabidopsis, and maize. We also present the molecular characterization of a candidate for a hexose transporter of the plastid envelope membrane. This transporter, initially characterized more than 20 years ago, is closely related to the mammalian glucose transporter GLUT family and differs from all other plant hexose transporters that have been characterized to date.

During photosynthesis, part of the fixed carbon is directed into the synthesis of transitory starch, which serves as an intermediate carbon storage facility in chloroplasts. This transitory starch is mobilized during the night. Increasing evidence indicates that the main route of starch breakdown proceeds by way of hydrolytic enzymes and results in glucose formation. This pathway requires a glucose translocator to mediate the export of glucose from the chloroplasts. We have reexamined the kinetic properties of the plastidic glucose translocator and, using a differential labeling procedure, have identified the glucose translocator as a component of the inner envelope membrane. Peptide sequence information derived from this protein was used to isolate cDNA clones encoding a putative plastidic glucose translocator from spinach, potato, tobacco, Arabidopsis, and maize. We also present the molecular characterization of a candidate for a hexose transporter of the plastid envelope membrane. This transporter, initially characterized more than 20 years ago, is closely related to the mammalian glucose transporter GLUT family and differs from all other plant hexose transporters that have been characterized to date. INTRODUCTIONIn plants, carbon fixed during the day is exported from the chloroplasts in the form of triose phosphate (trioseP), which is converted in the cytosol to sucrose. Sucrose often serves as the predominant photoassimilate being allocated to sink tissues. The export of trioseP from the chloroplasts is mediated by the trioseP/3-phosphoglycerate/phosphate translocator (TPT; Fliege et al., 1978; Flügge et al., 1989). Rather than being exported, a considerable amount of the fixed carbon is maintained within the chloroplasts and is involved in the biosynthesis of transitory starch, which could amount to approximately one-half of the carbon assimilated by photosynthesis during the day. During the next dark period, transitory starch is mobilized to sustain a continuous supply of carbon (i.e., sucrose) for export to growing sinks as well as for energy metabolism in leaves. Mutants lacking the ability to synthesize (Caspar et al., 1985; Hanson and McHale, 1988;Huber and Hanson, 1992; Geiger et al., 1995) or degrade transitory starch (Zeeman et al., 1998a(Zeeman et al., , 1998bCaspar et al., 1991) show reduced growth under conditions in which photosynthesis is restricted.Starch degradation could follow either the phosphorolytic pathway, yielding trioseP, or the amylolytic pathway, leading to free sugars, glucose (Glc), and maltose. There is evidence that the dominant pathway for the degradation of transitory starch is the amylolytic one. First, trioseP, the end product of the phosphorolytic pathway, must be exported from the chloroplasts and subsequently be converted to hexose phosphate (hexoseP) in the cytosol. This reaction is controlled by the regulatory metabolite fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, which is a strong inhibitor of the cytosolic fructosebisphosphate phosphatase (Stitt, 1990). During the transition from...