Alterations in trehalase solubility during development in the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum

Previous studies have indicated that during development in the slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum, compartmentation of the isoenzymes of trehalase (alpha, alpha'-trehalose 1-D-glucohydrolase, (EC 3.2.1.28) occurs between the extracellular and intracellular environments. The compartmentation of trehalase between soluble and particulate cell fractions was examined in this work. The trehalase present in crude homogenates prepared during the first 12 h of development was completely soluble. Starting at about the pseudoplasmodial stage (i.e. the 14th hour of development), trehalase activity became associated with insoluble cellular material and this increased to a maximal value in homogenates from mature sorocarps, where 50% of the activity was insoluble. Spore cells accounted for only 2 to 3% of the trehalase associated with mature sorocarps, with the remaining 97% being localized in stalk cell material. Although trehalase recovered from spores was completely soluble, more than half of that from the stalk was recovered in the buffer-insoluble pellet fraction.