Turnover of ribulose 1, 5-diphosphate carboxylase in barley leaves (Hordeum vulgare L.) was followed over time in light and dark. The enzyme was degraded in prolonged darkness and was resynthesized after the plants were returned to light. Labeling with 14C showed that simultaneous synthesis and degradation (turnover) did not occur in light. In contrast, the remaining soluble protein was turned over rapidly in light. Although ribulose 1, 5-diP carboxylase can be both degraded and synthesized, these processes seem not to occur simultaneously, but can be induced independently by changing environmental conditions. Much information is available on the increase of RuDPI carboxylase activity (6, 3, 9, 12, 13. 16), RuDP carboxylase protein (9), and fraction I protein (9, 10), in response to leaf development and light, and relatively little on the fate of the enzyme after its synthesis. Fraction I protein and RuDP carboxylase are very probably identical (9,14,15,18,19). RuDP carboxylase activity and fraction I protein decrease during senescence of tobacco (1,8) and Perilla (7) leaves, but it is not known whether the enzyme is controlled by a turnover system or is degraded without simultaneous synthesis.Since RuDP carboxylase protein makes up a large percentage of the total soluble protein of many plant leaves, it can be considered to be a major component of storage proteins (9, 14) as well as a major catalyst of CO2 fixation. A study was therefore done to determine whether RuDP carboxylase is controlled by a turnover system in barley leaves.
MATERIALS AND METHODSPlant Materials. Hordeumn vulgar-e L. var. Numar was grown in vermiculite in 24-cm plastic pots or 28-X 33-cm plastic pans. Moisture was supplied by cotton wicks connecting the vermiculite to a full strength nutrient supply (9). The seedlings were grown for 6 days in either complete darkness or in continuous light (21,000 lux) at 27 C and 55% relative humidity. Plant Treatments. Loss of RuDP carboxylase from barley seedlings was followed in both darkness and continuous light. Six-day-old light-grown seedlings were placed in darkness, and the level of the enzyme was assayed every 6 hr for 72 hr. The seedlings were then returned to light, where the enzymatic assays were continued.'Abbreviation: RuDP: ribulose 1.5-diphosphate. This report defines turnover as simultaneous synthesis and degradation of protein. To determine whether RuDP carboxylase was being turned over while plants were in continuous light, RuDP carboxylase protein was labeled with "C by introducing CO2 when the leaves were rapidly synthesizing the enzyme (6, 9, 13). Six-day-old dark-grown barley seedlings were given 12 hr of light and then placed in a gas-tight chamber at 27 C under light (16,000 lux) and treated with 2 mc of "CO2. Continuous monitoring showed that at the end of 6 hr, about 80% of the "CO2 had been removed from the atmosphere of the chamber by the seedlings. At that point the plants were removed from the chamber and placed in continuous light (21,000 lux) at 27 C and 55% rel...