Characteristics of the Process of Enzyme Release from Secretory Plant Cells

Abstract

Secretion--the outward movement of molecules across the plasmalemma--of {alpha}-amylase by barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Himalaya) aleurone layers is an energy-dependent process that is not directly dependent upon protein synthesis or RNA synthesis and does not appear to be under the direct control of gibberellic acid or abscisic acid. Release--the movement of the secreted {alpha}-amylase molecules through the walls into the surrounding medium--is apparently diffusion limited and is markedly dependent upon the presence of ions.