Isolation and Partial Characterization of Vacuoles from Tobacco Protoplasts

Protoplasts from suspension-cultured cells of Nicotiana glutinosa L. were lysed in 0.3 molar sorbitol in 2 millimolar ethylenediaminetetraacetate-tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (pH 7.5) to release intact vacuoles. The vacuoles were purified by centrifugation in a Ficoll step gradient. About 11% of the vacuoles and 13% of the acid phosphatase activity was recovered in the purified vacuole fraction, suggesting that the vacuole is the major site for acid phosphatase in these cells. NADH-cytochrome c reductase, malate dehydrogenase, and cytochrome c oxidase activities were reduced during vacuole purification. The majority of the adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) hydrolytic activity of purified vacuoles was associated with nonspecific acid phosphatase and not with a transport ATPase. As judged by acid phosphatase distribution and electron microscopy, the effective density of vacuoles in a sucrose gradient was low (less than 1.1 grams per cubic centimeter), although an unequivocal estimate of the vacuole or tonoplast density was not possible from the experiments conducted.