Arginine decarboxylase as the source of putrescine for tobacco alkaloids

Abstract

The putrescine which forms a part of nicotine and other pyrrolidine alkaloids is generally assumed to arise through the action of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC). However, we have previously noted that changes in the activity of arginine decarboxylase (ADC), an alternate source of putrescine, parallel changes in tissue alkaloids, while changes in ODC activity do not. This led us to undertake experiments to permit discrimination between ADC and ODC as enzymatic sources of putrescine destined for alkaloids. Two kinds of evidence presented here support a major role for ADC in the generation of putrescine going into alkaloids: (a) A specific 'suicide inhibitor' of ADC effectively inhibits the biosynthesis of nicotine and nornicotine in tobacco callus, while the analogous inhibitor of ODC is less effective, and (b) the flow of 14C from uniformly labelled arginine into nicotine is much more efficient than that from ornithine.