INTERACTION BETWEEN FATTY-ACID AND STARCH SYNTHESIS IN ISOLATED AMYLOPLASTS FROM CAULIFLOWER FLORAL BUDS

Abstract

The interaction of fatty-acid synthesis with starch synthesis has been studied in intact amyloplasts isolated from floral buds of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L.). These amyloplasts perform acetate-dependent fatty-acid synthesis at maximum rates only at high external ATP concentrations. Neither pyruvate nor malate inhibit acetate-dependent fatty-acid synthesis. In contrast, acetate is inhibitory to the low pyruvate-dependent fatty-acid synthesis. These observations indicate that neither pyruvate nor malate are used as natural precursors of fatty-acid synthesis. In contrast to fatty-acid synthesis, the rate of glucose-6-phosphate-dependent starch synthesis is already saturated in the presence of much lower ATP concentrations. Rising rates of starch synthesis influence negatively the process of acetate-dependent fatty-acid synthesis. This inhibition appears to occur under both limiting and saturating concentrations of external ATP, indicating that the rate of ATP uptake is limiting when both biochemical pathways are active. The rate of starch synthesis is modulated specifically by the concentration of 3-phosphoglycerate in the incubation medium. This observation leads to the conclusion that the activity of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase is of primary importance for the control of both, starch and fatty-acid synthesis. Using the modified approach of Kacser and Burns (1973; Symp. Sec. Exp. Biol. 27, 65-104) we have quantified the contribution of the rate of starch synthesis to the control of the metabolic flux through fatty-acid synthesis.