ASSOCIATION OF LIPASE ACTIVITY WITH SPHEROSOMES OF RICINUS COMMUNIS

The fatty layer obtained after centrifuging a macerate of ungerminated castor beans, Ricinus communis, contains an active lipase. The fatty layer has been examined by a combination of biochemical and electron microscopic techniques before and after periods of active lipolysis with Pb++ in the reaction mixture. The results confirm the presence of spherosomes, the fat storage organelles of the cells, concentrated in the fatty layer. Lipase activity is localized in the spherosomes derived from endosperm tissue of ungerminated seeds. © 1968.