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Catabolism of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid to CO₂ by Etiolated Barley Leaves ¹

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Chicago, Illinois 60680

The in vivo oxidation of the C₄ and C₅ of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) to CO₂ has been studied in etiolated barley (Hordeum vulgare L. var. Larker) leaves in darkness. The rate of ¹⁴CO₂ evolution from leaves fed [4-¹⁴C]ALA is strongly inhibited by aminooxyacetate, anaerobiosis, and malonate. The rate of ¹⁴CO₂ evolution from leaves fed [5-¹⁴C]ALA is also inhibited by these treatments but to a lesser extent. These results suggest that (a) one step in ALA catabolism is a transamination reaction and (b) the C₄ is oxidized to CO₂ via the tricarboxylic acid cycle to a greater extent than is the C₅.

³ To whom correspondence should be addressed.

¹ Supported by National Science Foundation Grants PCM 76-02308 and PCM 79-01605 and a grant from the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle Research Board (to M. L. G.). These studies formed a part of a thesis submitted (by J. X. D.) to the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD degree.