Nucleoside diphosphate-sugar 4-epimerases. II. Uridine diphosphate arabinose 4-epimerase of wheat germ.

Uridine diphosphate (UDP)-arabinose 4-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.5) has been purified at least 20-fold from wheat germ by MnCl(2) treatment, (NH(4))(2)SO(4) fractionation, dialysis, and Sephadex and diethylaminoethyl cellulose column chromatography. The enzyme has no action on UDP-d-glucose, UDP-d-glucuronic acid, or TDP-d-glucose. The pH optimum is 8.0. Km values are 1.5 mM for UDP-d-xylose and 0.5 mm for UDP-l-arabinose. The equilibrium constant, K, for the reaction UDP-l-arabinose left arrow over right arrow UDP-d-xylose is 1.25. The enzyme is neither activated by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide nor inhibited by reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. It is completely inhibited by p-chloromercuri-phenylsulfonate; the inhibition is reversed by cysteine.