EFFECTS OF HUMIC-ACID FRACTIONS ON INVERTASE ACTIVITIES IN PLANT-TISSUES

The effect of some soil organic matter fractions and synthetic humic acids were tested on the invertase activities in tissues of several higher-plant species. The effects varied according to the plant and soil organic matter fraction used. Thus no fraction tested had any effect on the invertase activity of beetroot storage tissue, but several fractions, mainly humic acid and its residues obtained by water or acid boiling, inhibited invertase in carrot storage tissues and wheat roots and coleoptiles. and to a lesser extent mungbean hypocotyls. Soil phenolic acids were without effect in any of the plant tissues tested. Some stimulations of invertase activity occurred with pea root tissue, using the water- and acid-soluble humic-acid fractions. The effects were independent of ash contents, total N or the C:H:N ratio, and could not be ascribed to any particular chemical component. The inhibitory effects on wheat invertase activity produced by soil organic matter were independent of pH in the range 4.5-7.0, and were constant over a 4 h incubation. The inhibitors only slightly affected the Km but markedly affected the Vmax of the reaction, hence they were non-competitive. The effect of a naturally-occurring invertase inhibitor from beetroot storage tissues could be reduced in the presence of humic acid. Although the inhibitor had little effect on wheat root invertase it did reduce the inhibitory effect of the humic acid in this tissue. © 1979.