Tissue-specific expression of the alternative oxidase in soybean and siratro

Alternative oxidase activity (cyanide-insensitive respiration) was measured in mitochondria from the shoots, roots, and nodules of soybean (Glycine max L.) and siratro (Macroptilium atropurpureum) plants. Activity was highest in the shoots and lowest in the nodules. Alternative oxidase activity was associated with one (roots) or two (shoots) proteins between 30 and 35 kilodaltons that were detected by western blotting with a monoclonal antibody against Sauromatum guttatum alternative oxidase. No such protein was detected in nodule mitochondria. Measurements of oxygen uptake by isolated soybean root and nodule cells in the presence of cyanide and salicylhydroxamic acid indicated that alternative oxidase activity was confined to the uninfected cortex cells of the nodule. Immunoprecipitation of translation products of mRNA isolated from soybean shoots revealed a major band at 43 kilodaltons that is assumed to be the precursor of an alternative oxidase protein. This band was not seen when mRNA from nodules was treated in the same fashion. The results indicate that tissue-specific expression of the alternative oxidase occurs in soybean and siratro.