Biosynthesis of Ascorbic Acid in Kidney Bean. l-Galactono-γ-Lactone Dehydrogenase Is an Intrinsic Protein Located at the Mitochondrial Inner Membrane

Hypocotyls of kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) accumulated ascorbate after preincubation with a number of possible precursors, mainly l-galactono-γ-lactone (l-GL) and l-gulono-γ-lactone. The increase in the intracellular ascorbate concentration was parallel to the high stimulation of the l-GL dehydrogenase (l-GLD) activity measured in vitro using l-GL as a substrate and cytochrome c as an electron acceptor. Cell fractionation using a continuous linear Percoll gradient demonstrated that l-GLD is associated with mitochondria; therefore, pure mitochondria were isolated and subjected to detergent treatment to separate soluble from membrane-linked proteins. l-GLD activity was mainly associated with the detergent phase, suggesting that a membrane-intrinsic protein is responsible for the ascorbic acid biosynthetic activity. Subfractionation of mitochondria demonstrated that l-GLD is located at the inner membrane.