CYTOKININ OXIDASE FROM AUXIN-DEPENDENT AND CYTOKININ-DEPENDENT CALLUS-CULTURES OF TOBACCO (NICOTIANA-TABACUM-L)

Cytokinin oxidase was extracted and partially purified from auxin- and cytokinin-dependent callus tissue of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Wisconsin 38). The activity of the enzyme preparation was examined using an assay based on the conversion of tritiated N6-(DELTA2-isopentenyl)adenine ([2,8-H-3]iP) to adenine. Cytokinin oxidase exhibited a temperature optimum at 45-50-degrees-C and a relatively high pH optimum (8.5-9.0). The apparent K(m) value of the enzyme was 4.3 muM for iP. On the basis of the substrate competition assays, iP was determined to be the preferred substrate of the enzyme. Substrate competition was also observed with zeatin and the cytokinin-active urea derivative Thidiazuron. Cytokinins bearing saturated isoprenoid side chains or cyclic side chain structures, as well as auxins and abscisic acid, had no effect on the conversion of [2,8-H-3]iP. The cytokinin oxidase exhibited increased activity in the presence of copper-imidazole complex in the reaction mixture. Under optimal concentrations of copper (15 mM CuCl2) and imidazole (100 mM), the enzyme activity was enhanced ca. 40-fold. Under these conditions the pH optimum was lowered to pH 6.0, whereas the temperature optimum, the apparent K. value, and the substrate specificity were not altered. Most of the enzyme moiety did not bind to the lectin concanavalin A. The characteristics of cytokinin oxidase presented here suggest that a novel molecular form of the enzyme, previously identified and characterized in Phaseolus lunatus callus cultures (Kaminek and Armstrong (1990) Plant Physiol 93:1530), also occurs in cultured tobacco tissue.