Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 October 1997
Monilinia fructigena secretes one molecular form of endo-polygalacturonase (PG) in apple fruits infected by it. This PG, purified from culture filtrate to homogeneity, had an Mr of ca 33000 (SDS electrophoresis) and a pI value of ca 9·75. It had little or no effect on the structural integrity of potato tuber tissues, nor on the viability of apple callus cells in suspension. Modification of the lysine units of the purified enzyme by pyridoxal phosphate resulted in ca 50% decrease in PG activity. PG thus modified appeared to bind to an apple fibre preparation less than did PG not treated with pyridoxal phosphate. Lysine residues may thus be involved in subsites binding this PG to carboxyl groups in the polygalacturonate.