Extremely high activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in thermogenic tissues of Araceae

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity in extracts of a wide range of thermogenic tissues of the Araceae was shown to be in the range 10-100 μmol g(-1) fresh weight min(-1) (0.5-3.7 μmol mg(-1) protein min(-1)). Such high activities were not found in non-thermogenic tissues of the Araceae or in thermogenic tissues of Aristolochia brasiliensis Mart. and Zucc., Victoria amazonica Schomb. and Encephalartos barteri Carruth. During development and thermogenesis in the club of Arum maculatum L. the high activities of the carboxylase did not lead to any marked accumulation of citrate, isocitrate, 2-oxoglutarate, fumarate, malate and oxaloacetate. Clubs of Arum maculatum and of Arum italicum Miller readily fixed (14)CO2 in the dark, mostly into aspartate, malate, alanine and glutamate. Pulse and chase experiments showed that most of the fixed carbon was very rapidly metabolized to CO2. The detailed distribution suggest that this occurred largely by decarboxylation of C-4 acids. It is suggested that thermogenic tissues of the Araceae are characterized by very high activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, and that in vivo this leads to synthesis of C-4 acids which are promptly decarboxylated.