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Articles

Correlation between Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase Activity and Phenolic Biosynthesis in p-Fluorophenylalanine-sensitive and -resistant Tobacco and Carrot Tissue Cultures ¹

^a Department of Agronomy, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801

Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activity was measured in p-fluorophenylalanine (PFP)-sensitive and -resistant tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and carrot (Daucus carota L.) cell lines which are known to oversynthesize phenylalanine. A correlation between phenolic levels and PAL activities was detected. The phenylalanine analog-resistant and -sensitive carrot cells showed no differences in the accumulation of phenolic compounds and PAL activities. The PFP-resistant tobacco cells, however, had 10 times higher levels of phenolics and also 10 to 20 times higher PAL activities than the PFP-sensitive line. The PAL activity in the resistant tobacco line increased dramatically after inoculation of the cells into fresh medium. Conditions affecting this increase were characterized.

A comparison of the responses of PAL activity to light treatment and changes in the 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid concentration in the medium revealed no differences for both tobacco lines. After inoculation of the cells into fresh medium, the rates of nitrate uptake from the medium were similar for both lines as were the rates of protein synthesis. The reason for the increased PAL levels in the resistant tobacco cells remains unknown.

³ To whom reprint requests should be addressed.

¹ This work was supported in part by funds from the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station and a postdoctoral fellowship of Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to J. B.