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Secreted class III peroxidases (EC 1.11.1.7) are implicated in a broad range of physiological processes throughout the plant life cycle. However, the unambiguous determination of the precise biological role of an individual class III peroxidase isoenzyme is still a difficult task due to genetic redundancy and broad substrate specificity in vitro. In addition, many difficulties are encountered during extraction and analysis of cell wall proteins. Since class III peroxidases are also secreted into the apoplast, the use of suspension cell cultures can facilitate isolation and functional characterization of individual isoforms. Here, we report on the characterization of class III peroxidases secreted in the spent medium of sugarcane suspension cell cultures. After treatment with specific inducers of cell wall lignification, peroxidases were isolated and activities assayed with guaiacol, syringaldazine and coniferyl alcohol. Enzymatic activity was not significantly different after treatments, regardless of the substrate, with the exception of methyl-jasmonate treatment, which led to a decreased guaiacol peroxidase activity. Remarkably, peroxidases isolated from the medium were capable of oxidizing syringaldazine, an analog to sinapyl alcohol, suggesting that sugarcane cultures can produce peroxidases putatively correlated to lignification. A proteomic approach using activity staining of 2-DE gels revealed a complex isoperoxidase profile, composed predominantly of cationic isoforms. Individual spots were excised and analyzed by LC-ESI-Q-TOF and homology-based search against the Sugarcane EST Database resulted in the identification of several proteins. Spatio-temporal expression pattern of selected genes was determined for validation of identified class III peroxidases that were preferentially expressed during sugarcane stem development., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Class III peroxidases are present as large multigene families in all land plants. This large number of genes together with the diversity of processes catalyzed by peroxidases suggests possible functional specialization of each isoform. However, assigning a precise role for each individual peroxidase gene has continued to be a major bottleneck. Here we investigated the enzyme activity and translational profile of class III peroxidases during stem development of sugarcane as a first step in the estimation of physiological functions of individual isoenzymes. Internodes at three different developmental stages (young, developing and mature) were divided into pith (inner tissue) and rind (outer tissue) fractions. The rind of mature internodes presented the highest enzymatic activity and thus could be considered the ideal tissue for the discovery of peroxidase gene function. In addition, activity staining of 2DE gels revealed different isoperoxidase profiles and protein expression regulation among different tissue fractions. In-gel tryptic digestion of excised spots followed by peptide sequencing by LC-MS/MS positively matched uncharacterized peroxidases in the sugarcane database SUCEST. Multiple spots matching the same peroxidase gene were found, which reflects the generation of more than one isoform from a particular gene by post-translational modifications. The identified sugarcane peroxidases appear to be monocot-specific sequences with no clear ortholog in dicot model plant Arabidopsis thaliana., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Heart of palm (palmito) is the edible part of the apical meristem of palms and is considered a gourmet vegetable. Palmitos from the palms Euterpe edulis (Juçara) and Euterpe oleracea (Açaí) oxidise after harvesting, whereas almost no oxidation is observed in palmitos from Bactris gasipaes (Pupunha). Previous investigations showed that oxidation in Juçara and Açaí was mainly attributable to polyphenol oxidase (PPO; EC 1.14.18.1) activity. In this study, we partially purified PPOs from these three palmitos and analysed them for SDS activation, substrate specificity, inhibition by specific inhibitors, thermal stability, optimum pH and temperature conditions, Km and Ki. In addition, the total phenolic content and chlorogenic acid content were determined. Two partial cDNA sequences were isolated and sequenced from Açaí (EoPPO1) and Juçara (EePPO1). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR expression assays showed that Açaí and Juçara PPOs were strongly expressed in palmitos and weakly expressed in leaves. No amplification was observed for Pupunha samples. The lack of oxidation in the palmito Pupunha might be explained by the low PPO expression, low enzyme activity or the phenolic profile, particularly the low content of chlorogenic acid., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)