Studies on Auxin Protectors: IX. Inactivation of Certain Protectors by Polyphenol Oxidase

Protector-II (Pr-II) of the Japanese morning glory (Pharbitis nil Choisy) was inactivated by exposure to polyphenol oxidase. An unidentified protector in the same molecular weight range obtained from sunflower was also inactivated by this enzyme. Earlier speculations that protectors might be lipoprotein in nature were negated by the fact that neither lipase nor protease inactivated the protectors. The protectors were also not inactivated by incubating with alpha-amylase, DNase, or RNase. Catechol mimics Pr and is inactivated by polyphenol oxidase. The oxidation of catechol to o-quinone is accompanied by a loss of chromophores that absorb ultraviolet light and the appearance of a reddish brown color. Similarly, when the relatively low molecular weight auxin protectors (Pr-II class) were incubated with polyphenol oxidase, their oxidation was also frequently associated with the formation of brown color, and oxidation with H(2)O(2) caused a loss of ultraviolet-absorbing chromophores. The data indicate that auxin protectors contain o-dihydroxyphenolic groups at their active site.That o-dihydroxyphenols inhibit indoleacetic acid oxidation has been demonstrated by numerous workers. It is suggested that the high molecular weight auxin protectors and the phenolic compounds described by other authors comprise part of a metabolic system concerned with the regulation of peroxidase-catalyzed redox reactions.