Activity of rubber transferase and rubber particle size in Hevea latex

Norimasa Ohya, D. of Material and Biological Chemistry, F. of Sci., Yamagata U., Yamagata, Japan
Yasuyuki Tanaka, F. of Science, Chulalongkorn U., Bangkok
Rapepun Wititsuwannakul, Assoc. Prof., D. of Biochemistry, F. of Sci., PSU.
Tanetoshi Koyama, Institute for Chemical Reaction Science, Tohoku U., Aoba-ku, Japan
Corresponding e-mail : ohya@sci.kj.yamagata-u.ac.jp

Published : J Rubb Res 2000, 3(4) : 214-221
Key words : Hevea brasiliensis, rubber, rubber biosyntheis, rubber transferase

Rubber particles in fresh latex of Hevea brasiliensis showed a bimodal distribution with a mean diameter of 1.07 mm. The fractions containing small particles had much higher rubber transferase activity than those composed of bigger ones. The maximum incorporation of isopentenyl diphosphate went up to as high as ca. 20%. On the other hand, the fractions consisting of bigger rubber particles exhibited a small enzyme activity. The quantity of ester group linked to rubber molecules was about 2.4 mol/rubber chain for the biggest rubber particles, while the small rubber particles had almost no ester group. The small rubber particles are presumed to be composed of linear-polymers having an active diphosphate group.

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