F. Beisson et al., AN ESTERASE NEOSYNTHESIZED IN POST-GERMINATED SUNFLOWER SEEDS IS RELATED TO A NEW FAMILY OF LIPOLYTIC ENZYMES, Plant physiology and biochemistry, 35(10), 1997, pp. 761-765
We previously carried out the purification and biochemical characteriz
ation of an acylester hydrolase from post-germinated sunflower, (Helia
nthus annuus L.) seeds. Here we establish that the 18 N-terminal resid
ues of its sequence contain the GDSL consensus motif recently describe
d in five bacterial lipolytic enzymes thought to constitute a differen
t group from the classical lipases and esterases. Using purified speci
fic polyclonal antibodies we demonstrate that the occurence of fatty a
cyl-ester hydrolase activity in post-germinated seeds is due to a de n
ovo synthesis of the protein. Sunflower-seed esterase is the first GDS
L enzyme to have been characterized in plants.