Abstract
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a potential endocrine disrupter, used as a stabilizer for many types of plastics. It has recently been a cause for anxiety because of the environmental release of BPA. It has been demonstrated that BPA is metabolized to BPA-ο-β-D-glucopyranoside (BPAG) in the tobacco seedlings (Plant Cell Physiol. 2002, 43: 1036-1042). This reaction may be catalyzed by BPA specific glucosyltransferase (BPAGTase). In this study, we identified BPAGTase activity in cell-free extract of both tobacco suspension cultured cells (Nicotiana tabacum cv. BY-2) and seedlings (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi NC). Km of BPAGTase for BPA was 82μM. This value was equivalent to those of other plant glucosyltransferases. Specific activity in the leaves was 4 fold higher than that in the roots. Our results indicated that tobacco plants have BPAGTase to metabolize to BPA and leaf tissue may be mainly responsible for the β-glucosylation of BPA.
