Purification and characterization of the invertase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe. A comparative analysis with the invertase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Invertase (EC 3.2.1.26) was purified to homogeneity from exponentially growing cells of Schizosaccharomyces pombe fully de-repressed for synthesis of the enzyme, and was shown to be a high-molecular-mass glycoprotein that can be dissociated in the presence of 8 M-urea/1% SDS into identical subunits with an apparent molecular mass of 205 kDa. The carbohydrate moiety, accounting for 67% of the total mass, is composed of equimolar amounts of mannose and galactose. There is a small amount of glucosamine, which is probably involved in the linkage to the protein moiety, since the enzyme is sensitive to treatment with endoglycosidase H. The composition of the carbohydrate moiety resembles that found in higher-eukaryotic glycoproteins and differs from glycoproteins found in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The protein portion of each subunit is a polypeptide of molecular mass 60 kDa, very similar to the invertase of Sacch. cerevisiae. Both proteins cross-react with antibodies raised against the protein fractions of the other, indicating that the two enzymes are similar.