Abstract
The polyamine metabolic pathway is intricately connected to metabolism of several amino acids. While ornithine and arginine are direct precursors of putrescine, they themselves are synthesized from glutamate in multiple steps involving several enzymes. Additionally, glutamate is an amino group donor for several other amino acids and acts as a substrate for biosynthesis of proline and γ-aminobutyric acid, metabolites that play important roles in plant development and stress response. Suspension cultures of poplar (
Populus nigra ×
maximowiczii), transformed with a constitutively expressing mouse ornithine decarboxylase gene, were used to study the effect of up-regulation of putrescine biosynthesis (and concomitantly its enhanced catabolism) on cellular contents of various protein and non-protein amino acids.
Keywords
genetic manipulation,
polyamines,
ornithine decarboxylase,
poplar
Citation
Mohapatra, Sridev; Minocha, Rakesh; Long, Stephanie; Minocha, Subhash C. 2010. Transgenic manipulation of a single polyamine in poplar cells affects the accumulation of all amino acids. Amino Acids. 38: 1117-1129.