Abstract
Submitochondrial particles freshly prepared by sonication from pea cotyledon mitochondria showed low ATPase activity. Activity increased 20-fold on exposure to trypsin. The pea cotyledon submitochondrial particle ATPase was also activated by "aging" in vitro. At pH 7.0 addition of 1 millimolar ATP prevented the activation. ATPase of freshly prepared pea cotyledon submitochondrial particles had a substrate specificity similar to that of the soluble ATPase from pea cotyledon mitochondria, with GTPase > ATPase. "Aged" or trypsin-treated particles showed equal activity with the two substrates. NaCl and NaHCO(3), which stimulate the ATPase but not the GTPase activity of the soluble pea enzyme, were stimulatory to both the ATPase and GTPase activities of freshly prepared submitochondrial particles. However, they were stimulatory only to the ATPase activity of trypsin-treated or "aged" submitochondrial particles. In contrast, the ATPase activity of rat liver submitochondrial particles was stimulated by HCO(3) (-), but inhibited by Cl(-), indicating that Cl(-) stimulation is a distinguishing property of the pea mitochondrial ATPase complex.