Stereoisomerism in plant disease resistance: induction and isolation of the 7,2'-dihydroxy-4',5'-methylenedioxyisoflavone oxidoreductase, an enzyme introducing chirality during synthesis of isoflavonoid phytoalexins in pea (Pisum sativum L).

Treatment of pea seedlings with CuCl2 induced the activity of the enzyme NADPH:7,2'-dihydroxy-4',5'-methylenedioxyisoflavone oxidoreductase (DMIRase) that introduces (+) stereoisomerism in pisatin. DMIRase was purified approximately 7000 fold from CuCl2-treated pea seedlings to apparent homogeneity by a six-step process. The purification sequence included (NH4)2SO4 fractionation, gel filtration on AcA 44, chromatography on DEAE-Bio-Gel,phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B, and Reactive Red 120-agarose, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Gel filtration and denaturing electrophoresis showed that the enzyme consisted of a single polypeptide chain with an Mr of 37,500. The pH optimum of DMIRase was determined to be 7.8. The enzyme showed apparent Michaelis constants of 20 microM for 7,2'-dihydroxy-4',5'-methylenedioxyisoflavone and 58 microM for NADPH. The reaction product of the enzyme, sophorol, gave a distinct negative Cotton effect in the region 300-360 nm, which indicated 3S configuration of the molecule. Antibodies against the enzyme were raised in rabbits and characterized for specificity.