[Role of beta-cyanoalanine hydratase in the synthesis of asparagine in white lupine].

: A highly active beta-cyanoalanine hydratase catalyzing the asparagine synthesis from beta-cyanoalanine was isolated from 11-day-old etyolated seedlings of white lupine (Lupinus albus) and subjected to purification. In white lupine seedlings the enzyme activity is 300 times as high as that in extracts of blue lupine (Lupinus angustifolius). The experimental data suggest that in white lupine seedlings asparagine synthesis from cysteine and cyanide occurs via beta-cyanoalanine production with its subsequent hydratation. The physiological role of beta-cyanoalanine hydratase from white lupine consists in an extensive synthesis of asparagine, whose concentration reaches 0.1 M.