Uridine 5'-diphospho-D-glucose-dependent vectorial sucrose synthesis in tonoplast vesicles of the storage hypocotyl of red beet (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. conditiva).

Tonoplast vesicles were prepared from red-beet (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. conditiva) hypocotyl tubers ("beetroot") known to store sucrose. Uptake experiments, employing uridine 5'-diphospho-[(14)C]glucose (UDP-[(14)C]glucose) showed the operation of an UDP-glucose-dependent group translocator for vectorial synthesis and accumulation of sucrose, recently described for sugarcane and red-beet vacuoles and for tonoplast vesicles prepared from sugarcane suspension cells. Characterization of the kinetic properties yielded the following results. Uptake of UDP-glucose was linear for 15 min. The apparent K m was 0.75 mM for UDP-glucose (at pH 7.2, 1 mM Mg(2+)), V max was 32 nmol·(mg protein)(-1)·min(-1). The incorporation of UDP-glucose exhibited a sigmoidal substrate-saturation curve in the absence of Mg(2+), the Hill coefficient (n H) was 1.33; Michaelis-Menten kinetics were obtained, however, in the presence of 1 mM MgCl2. For the reaction sequence under the control of the group translocator a dual pH optimum was found at pH 7.2 and 7.9, respectively. All reaction intermediates and the end product sucrose could be identified by two-dimensional high-performance thin-layer chromatography and autoradiography. The distribution pattern of radioactivity showed almost uniformly high labeling of all intermediates and sucrose. The physiological relevance of the results is discussed in the light of the fact that the tonoplast of red-beet storage cells accommodates two mechanisms of sucrose uptake (i) vectorial sucrose synthesis and (ii) direct ATP-dependent sucrose assimilation.