Relationship between peroxidase, catalase, and protein synthesis during cellular development in cell cultures of peanut

Abstract

In a suspension culture of peanut cotyledons (Arachis hypogaea L.) the rate of protein synthesis decreased as the cell mass increased in diameter, with a decrease in free amino acids except in a cell mass of 0.15–0.5 mm. A high level of catalase and low level of peroxidase activity was related to a higher rate of protein synthesis in single cell (< 0.15 mm) fractions.Both quantitative and qualitative differences in peroxidase and catalase enzymes exist between cell masses of different sizes. Analysis by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis reveals the molecular heterogeneity of these enzymes in different cell masses. The appearance of a new peroxidase isozyme with a concomitant disappearance of a catalase isozyme was related to the cellular differentiation in a cell mass of > 0.5 mm in diameter. Another peroxidase isozyme appeared in a cell mass of 2–4 mm in diameter. Quantitatively there was a significant increase in peroxidase with a decrease in catalase activity between cell clumps of increasing sizes.