The inhibition of mitosis by the reaction of maleic hydrazide with sulphydryl groups

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Abstract
Pea seeds treated with maleic hydrazide germinated normally until cell enlargement was replaced by cell division, when growth stopped. The ratio of reduced (GSH) to oxidized (GSSG) glutathione, i.e. GSH:GSSG, in cotyledons was not affected by maleic hydrazide but at the onset of cell division GSH increased at the expense of GSSG in treated axes only. Certain enzymes requiring free sulphydryl groups (starch phosphorylase and [beta]-amylase) were inhibited irreversibly by maleic hydrazide, but other enzymes (trypsin and pea aldolase) were not affected. The results suggest that maleic hydrazide reacts with protein SH groups and thus inhibits the reduction of protein S.S by GSH during mitosis.