PURIFICATION OF SUCROSE SYNTHASE FROM RICE AND ITS PROTEIN-CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION

Sucrose synthase from rice grains was purified using anion exchange te chniques and preparative gel filtration. In order to utilize the enzym e in subsequent enzymatic syntheses of nucleotide sugars the purificat ion protocol was optimized to yield an enzyme preparation which is fre e of phosphatases hydrolysing nucleotides. The enzyme preparation was investigated by SDS polyacrylamide gel-electrophoresis (molecular mass of subunit 90 kDa) and isoelectric focusing (pI 6.16) with silver sta ining. The native enzyme is a tetrameric protein with a molecular mass of 362 kDa. Edman degradation revealed a blocked N-terminus.