To determine the effects of naturally-occurring or artificially-introduced modifications of Rubisco on carboxylation activity or the

interaction with the catalytic chaperone, Rubisco activase (RCA), it is important to have a reliable method for measuring Rubisco and RCA activity. Ideally, the assay should be amenable to high throughput measurement of activity in plant tissue and with purified proteins. Given the central role of RCA in controlling the activation state of Rubisco, it is also desirable that the assay can measure RCA activity in response selleck to variable ratios of ADP:ATP. The ratio of these adenine nucleotides is the major physiological factor affecting RCA activity (Robinson and Portis 1989a; Carmo-Silva and Salvucci 2013). The activities of Rubisco and RCA are commonly measured by determining the rate of incorporation of 14CO2 into acid stable compounds using a short, timed assay (Lorimer et al. 1977). However, 14C is a hazardous material that requires safety precautions in its handling. This feature limits the use of the 14C-based assay to individuals with specialised training in the safe handling of radioactive material and liquid scintillation BAY 11-7082 mw cocktail. Even with the proper training, the costs associated with a license to purchase, use and dispose of radioactive material, and to purchase and maintain a liquid scintillation counter can

be prohibitive. Photometric assays, either continuous (Sharkey et al. 1991) or two stage using enzyme cycling (Sulpice et al. 2007), offer alternative OTX015 cost methods for measuring Rubisco activity. RCA activity can be measured by its ability to increase the activity of Rubisco and a continuous photometric assay for Rubisco has been adapted for use in measuring RCA activity

(Lan et al. 1992; Esau et al. 1996). However, these assays employ 3-PGA kinase for the conversion of 3-PGA and ATP to 1,3-bisPGA. This enzyme exhibits a low affinity for ATP and a very high affinity for inhibition by ADP (Pacold and Anderson 1975). These properties preclude assay of RCA activity at variable ratios of ADP:ATP. This limitation is a drawback Farnesyltransferase in the study of RCA because the sensitivity of RCA activity to inhibition by ADP is a major regulatory process controlling the activation state of Rubisco in response to irradiance and probably other environmental factors (Carmo-Silva and Salvucci 2013). A novel method for measuring Rubisco and RCA activity is described here. Instead of coupling 3-PGA formation to NADH oxidation via 3-PGA kinase, 2,3-bisPGA-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase (dPGM) was used to convert 3-PGA to 2-PGA (Fig. 1). Enolase was then used to convert 2-PGA to PEP. For measurement of RCA activity in the presence of variable ratios of ADP:ATP, the formation of PEP was coupled to NADH oxidation via PEP carboxylase and malic dehydrogenase. A modification of the basic method is described for the routine assay of Rubisco activity and Rubisco activation state.