Fatty acid β-oxidation and glyoxylate cycle enzyme activities of induced glyoxysomes from anise suspension cultures.

Homogenates of dedifferentiated anise (Pimpinella anisum L.) suspension cultures grown in B-5 medium with sucrose as source of carbon show all but 3 glyoxysomal enzyme activities: NAD-dependent oxidation of palmitoyl-CoA, isocitrate lyase, and malate synthase are lacking. Substitution of 20 mmol/l acetate for sucrose leads to the appearance of these enzyme activities. Only then glyoxysomes with a buoyant density of 1.23 kg/l in sucrose gradients are formed showing the enzyme activities for both ß-oxidation of fatty acids and glyoxylate cycle. Quantitatively and qualitatively they resemble glyoxysomes isolated from endosperm of 4 d old anise seedlings. Therefore, the suspension cultures constitute a valuable system for the study of both mechanisms and regulation of glyoxysome formation in anise.