Simultaneous determination of Rubisco carboxylase and oxygenase kinetic parameters in Triticum aestivum and Zea mays using membrane inlet mass spectrometry.

The lack of complete Rubisco kinetic data for numerous species is partly because of the time consuming nature of the multiple methods needed to assay all of the Rubisco parameters. We have developed a membrane inlet mass spectrometer method that simultaneously determines the rate of Rubisco carboxylation (v(c)) and oxygenation (v(o)), and the CO(2) and O(2) concentrations. Using the collected data, the Michaels-Menten equations for v(c) and v(o) in response to changing CO(2) and O(2) concentrations were simultaneously solved for the CO(2) (K(c)) and O(2) (K(o)) constants, the maximum turnover rates of the enzyme for CO(2) (kcat(CO2)) and O(2) (kcat(O2)) and the specificity for CO(2) relative to O(2) (S(c/o)). In the C(4) species Zea mays K(c) was higher but K(o) was lower compared with the C(3) species Triticum aestivum. The kcat(CO2) was higher and the kcat(O2) lower in Z. mays compared with T. aestivum and S(c/o) was similar in the two species. The V(omax)/V(cmax) was lower in Z. mays and thus did not correlate with changes in S(c/o). In conclusion, this mass spectrometer system provides a means of simultaneously determining the important Rubisco kinetic parameters, K(c), K(o), kcat(CO2,)kcat(O2) and S(c/o) from the same set of assays.