Gel electrophoretic profiles of proteinases in dark-germinated flax seeds

The proteinases present in dark-germinated flax seeds (Linum usitatissimum) were studied as a function of germination at 25 degrees C. A majority of activity was present in basic proteinases with an acidic pH optimum and a temperature optimum of 45 degrees C in the digestion of hemoglobin. Electrophoresis in a sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide mixture which had been polymerized with gelatin was used to separate proteins in extracts of seedlings. Subsequent activation of proteinases with Triton X-100 and resultant digestion of gelatin proved to be very reproducible and afforded detection and good quantification of various proteinase zones. An ethylenediaminetetraacetate-sensitive proteinase zone, P4 (about 60,000 daltons), appeared at day 3 after imbibition and attained maximum activity at day 4. This correlates with a rapid loss in vivo of the glyoxysomal enzyme, isocitrate lyase (EC 4.1.3.1). Ethylenediaminetetraacetate also slowed the loss of isocitrate lyase activity in extracts of 4-day seedlings in a dose-dependent manner. The addition of leupeptin, alpha-tolylsulfonyl fluoride, Pepstatin A, p-chloromercuribenzoate, or 1,10-phenanthroline prior to, during, or after exchange of Triton X-100 for sodium dodecyl sulfate had almost no inhibitory effect upon proteinases in 4-day seedlings.