Abstract
E. vivipara has a unique nature that expresses C4 characteristics under terrestrial conditions and C3 characteristics under submerged aquatic conditions. Both characteristics are interconvertible to each other in response to environmental changes. Since not only the expression profile of the enzymes but also the leaf morphology (Kranz anatomy) change in association with this conversion. E. vivipara is a suitable plant to investigate the genes indispensable for the functional C4 photosynthesis. During the course of our study on the regulatory mechanisms for gene expression and enzyme activity of PEPC for C4 photosynthesis, we noticed that the previously published method for PEPC extraction from the culms of E. vivipara was quite inefficient when grown in the glasshouse. Here we report that the use of skim milk as an additive to the extraction buffer was 50 to 100-fold more efficient than the previous one, and discuss possible usefulness of this method.
