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The Biosynthesis of -Aminolevulinic Acid in Higher Plants

I. Accumulation of -Aminolevulinic Acid in Greening Plant Tissues ¹

^a Department of Botany, University of California, Davis, California 95616

-Aminolevulinic acid dehydrase activity in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. var. Alpha green) cotyledons did not change as the tissue was allowed to green for 24 hours. -Aminolevulinic acid accumulated in greening cucumber cotyledons, and barley (Hordeum sativum L. var. Numar) and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. var. Red Kidney) leaves incubated in the presence of levulinic acid, a specific competitive inhibitor of -aminolevulinic acid dehydrase. The rate of -aminolevulinic acid accumulation in levulinic acid-treated cucumber cotyledons paralleled the rate of chlorophyll accumulation in the controls, and the quantity of -aminolevulinic acid accumulated compensated for the decrease in chlorophyll accumulation. When levulinic acid-treated cucumber cotyledons were returned to darkness, -aminolevulinic acid accumulation ceased.

-Aminolevulinic acid accumulation showed an absolute requirement for oxygen and was inhibited drastically by cyanide and azide, and to a lesser extent by arsenite and malonate. 2,4-Dinitrophenol, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethyl urea, sodium fluoroacetate, and hydroxylamine hydrochloride showed no effect under the conditions tested. Freezing and thawing of the tissue completely prevented the accumulation of -aminolevulinic acid.

The findings of this investigation are consistent with the hypothesis that -aminolevulinic acid is a chlorophyll precursor in higher plants, and that chlorophyll biosynthesis is regulated at the level of the formation of -aminolevulinic acid.

¹ This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant GB 31261.

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