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Kiwifruit β-galactosidase: Isolation and activity against specific fruit cell-wall polysaccharides

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Abstract

A β-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23) capable of degrading a number of fruit cell-wall polysaccharides in vitro, was isolated from ripening kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa [A. Chev.] C.F. Liang et A.R. Ferguson cv. Hayward). The enzyme has a molecular weight of approximately 60 kDa by gel permeation and consists of several basic isoforms. Several polypeptides were enriched during purification, with 33-, 46- and 67-kDa bands being predominant after sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The optimum activity of the enzyme against p-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside was at pH 3.2, but against a galactan purified from kiwifruit cell walls, it was at pH 4.9. The enzyme was specific for galactosyl residues in the β-configuration, releasing galactose from a variety of kiwifruit cell-wall polysaccharide fractions including cell wall material, Na2CO3-soluble pectin, high-molecular-weight galactan, xyloglucan, and galactoglucomannan. A galactosylated glucuronomannan found throughout the kiwifruit plant was also a substrate for the enzyme. The results indicate that the enzyme attacks the non-reducing end of galactose side chains, cleaving single galactose residues which may be attached to the 2, 3, 4, or 6 position of the aglycone. Activity of the enzyme in-vitro was too low to account for the total loss of galactose from the cell walls during ripening. If the β-galactosidase of this study is solely responsible for the removal of galactose from the cell wall during ripening then its in-vivo activity must be much greater than that observed in-vitro.

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Abbreviations

CWM:

cell wall material

SDS-PAGE:

sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

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We thank Bronwyn Culling and Teresa Wegrzyn for assistance and acknowledge a contribution towards the cost of the research from the New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board.

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Ross, G.S., Redgwell, R.J. & MacRae, E.A. Kiwifruit β-galactosidase: Isolation and activity against specific fruit cell-wall polysaccharides. Planta 189, 499–506 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198212

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198212

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