Plant Physiology 90:296-305 (1989)
© 1989 American Society of Plant Biologists
Metabolism and Enzymology
Synthesis of Methylated Ethanolamine Moieties
Regulation by Choline in Lemna
S. Harvey Mudd1 and
Anne H. Datko
Laboratory of General and Comparative Biochemistry, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
The results of experiments in which intact plants of Lemna paucicostata were labeled with either L-[3H3C]methionine, L-[14CH3]methionine, or [1,2-14C]ethanolamine support the conclusion that growth in concentrations of choline of 3.0 micromolar or above brings about marked decreases in the rate of biosynthesis of methylated forms of ethanolamine (normally present chiefly as phosphatidylcholine, with lesser amounts of choline and phosphocholine). The in vivo locus of the block is at the committing step in the biosynthetic sequence at which phosphoethanolamine is methylated by S-adenosylmethionine to form phosphomethylethanolamine. The block is highly specific: flow of methyl groups originating in methionine continues into S-adenosylmethionine, S-methylmethionine, the methyl moieties of pectin methyl ester, and other methylated metabolites. When choline uptake is less than the total that would be synthesized by control plants, phosphoethanolamine methylation is down-regulated to balance the uptake; total plant content of choline and its derivatives remains essentially constant. At maximum down-regulation, phosphoethanolamine methylation continues at 5 to 10% of normal. A specific decrease in the total available activity of AdoMet: phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase, as well as feedback inhibition of this enzyme by phosphocholine, and prevention of accumulation of phosphoethanolamine by down-regulation of ethanolamine synthesis may each contribute to effective control of phosphoethanolamine methylation. This down-regulation may necessitate major changes in S-adenosylmethionine metabolism. Such changes are discussed.
1 Reprint requests should be addressed to the authors at Building 36, Room 3DO6, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
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