Title

Growth, sucrose synthase, and invertase activities of developing Phaseolus vulgaris L. fruits

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-1994

Publication Source

Plant, Cell and Environment

Abstract

Activities of the sucrose-cleaving enzymes, acid and neutral invertase and sucrose synthase, were measured in pods and seeds of developing snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) fruits, and compared with 14C-import, elongation and dry weight accumulation. During the first 10 d post-anthesis, pods elongated rapidly with pod dry weight increase lagging behind by several days. The temporal patterns of acid invertase activity and import coincided closely during the first part of pod development, consonant with a central role for this enzyme in converting imported sucrose during pod elongation and early dry weight accumulation. Later, sucrose synthase became the predominant enzyme of dry weight accumulation and was possibly associated with the development of phloem in pod walls. Sucrose synthase activity in seeds showed two peaks, corresponding to two phases of rapid import and dry weight accumulation; hence, sucrose synthase was associated with seed sink growth. Acid invertase activities in seeds were low and did not show a noticeable relationship with import or growth. All neutral invertase activities, during pod and seed development, were too low for it to have a dominant role in sucrose cleavage. Changes in activities of certain sucrose-cleaving enzymes appear to be correlated with certain sink functions, including import, storage of reserves, and biosynthetic activities. The data supports the association of specific sucrose-cleaving enzymes with the specific processes that occur in the developing pods and seeds of snap bean fruits; for example, acid invertase with pod elongation and sucrose synthase with fruit dry matter accumulation.

Inclusive pages

419-426

ISBN/ISSN

0140-7791

Comments

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Sung, S. S., Sheih, W. J., Geiger, D. R. and Black, C. C. (1994), Growth, sucrose synthase, and invertase activities of developing Phaseolus vulgaris L. fruits. Plant, Cell & Environment, 17: 419–426, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.1994.tb00310.x

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Volume

17

Peer Reviewed

yes

Issue

4

Keywords

Phaseolus vulgaris, bush bean, bean seed, 14C-import, growth rate coefficient, invertase, sink metabolism, sink strength, sucrose metabolism, sucrose synthase

Link to published version

COinS