Purification and Characterization of a Chloroplast Outer-Envelope-Bound, ATP-Dependent Protein Kinase

An ATP-dependent protein kinase was partially purified from isolated outer envelope membranes of pea (Pisum sativum L., Progress No. 9) chloroplasts. The purified kinase had a molecular weight of 70 kilodaltons, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It was of the cyclic nucleotide and Ca2+, calmodulin-independent type. The purification involved the detergent solubilization of purified outer envelopes by 0.5% cholate and 1% octylglycoside, followed by centrifugation on a linear 6 to 25% sucrose gradient. Active enzyme fractions were further purified by affinity chromatography on histone III-S Sepharose 4B and ion exchange chromatography on diethylaminoethyl cellulose. The protein kinase eluted at 100 millimolar and 50 millimolar NaCl, respectively. The protein kinase was essentially pure as judged by Western blot analysis. The enzyme has a KM of 450 micromolar for ATP and a Vmax of 25 picomoles of 32P incorporated into histone III-S per minute per microgram. Inhibition by ADP is competitive (Ki 150 micromolar)

Phosphorylation of chloroplast ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit by an envelope-bound protein kinase in situ

A new protein kinase of the cAMP independent type was found to be bound to the outer envelope membrane of spinach chloroplasts. While stimulated by Mg2+ and inhibited by ADP, the enzyme showed no response to conventional protein substrates and was essentially independent of pH in the physiological (pH 7 to 8) range. The new protein kinase phosphorylated the mature form of the small subunit of ribulose 1,5- bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and, to a lesser extent, an unidentified 24-kDa polypeptide, both of which were bound to the outer envelope membrane. The results suggest that phosphorylation of cytoplasmically synthesized protein constituents of chloroplasts is involved in their transport through the chloroplast envelope membrane barrier

Comparison of geranylgeranyl and phytyl substituted methylquinols in the tocopherol synthesis of spinach chloroplasts

Geranylgeranyl substituted methylquinols are shown to be precursors of tocopherol biosynthesis in spinach chloroplasts as well as phytyl substituted ones. The geranylgeranyl substituted quinols are methylated even to a greater extent than the phytyl substituted ones. The connection to the so far known biosynthetic origin of -tocopherol is probably -tocotrienol which is hydrogenated to γ-tocopherol and then further methylated to -tocopherol