Evidence for a glycosylinositolphospholipid-anchored alkaline phosphatase in the aquatic plant Spirodela oligorrhiza

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins occur widely, perhaps universally, on the surface of animal cells, where they perform a variety of important functions. However, the existence of GPI-anchored proteins on plant cells has never been established. Evidence is presented in this communication for the occurrence of a 50 kDa GPI-anchored alkaline phosphatase (AP) induced in the duckweed Spirodela oligorrhiza by phosphate deprivation. Triton X-114 partitioning of the Spirodela proteins yielded two forms of AP activity, The detergent-associated form was labeled prominently by [H-3]ethanolamine, [H-3]myristic acid and [H-3]palmitic acid. This amphiphilic form of AP, like authentic GPI-anchored AP from mammals, was clearly resolved from the remaining, water-soluble AP activity by two types of incompletely-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Lipid covalently bound to the solvent-delipidated amphiphilic AP was resistant to cleavage by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C. Strong acid or alkaline hydrolysis of the H-3-fatty acid-labeled amphiphilic AP yielded radioactive fatty acids and a radioactive lipid tentatively identified as a long chain base. The more abundant water-soluble AP was also radioactive in plants incubated with [H-3]ethanolamine and was labeled to a lesser extent by H-3-fatty acids. The water-soluble AP, unlike its amphiphilic counterpart could be freed of all fatty acid radioactivity by mild alkaline hydrolysis, indicating the continued presence of an ester-linked fatty acid. All evidence supports the conclusion that Spirodela AP is synthesized as an amphiphilic protein with a ceramide-containing GPI anchor.