ON THE EXTRACTION OF ENZYMES FROM SUCCULENT PLANTS

Abstract

The extraction of enzymes concerned with malic acid metabolism from succulent plants, notably Bryophyllum calycinum, has been made possible by the introduction of a new technique. The high concentration of organic acids in the vacuoles of leaf cells was neutralized in situ by vacuum infiltration with ammonia solution. Thus, during maceration, the enzyme proteins are neither precipitated nor inactivated and conventional methods of enzyme purification may be applied. Further experiments have shown that whereas B. calycinum plants may lose their ability to fix carbon dioxide actively in the dark following exposure to short days ([Formula: see text] hours) the enzymes involved in malic acid metabolism and carbon dioxide fixation in the dark are not necessarily depleted.