Promotion of Seed Germination by Cyanide
- 1 July 1973
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Plant Physiology
- Vol. 52 (1) , 23-27
- https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.52.1.23
Abstract
Potassium cyanide at 3 μm to 10 mm promotes germination of Amaranthus albus, Lactuca sativa, and Lepidium virginicum seeds. l-Cysteine hydrogen sulfide lyase, which catalyzes the reaction of HCN with l-cysteine to form β-l cyanoalanine, is active in the seeds. β-l-Cyanoalanine is the most effective of the 23 α-amino acids tested for promoting germination of A. albus seeds. Aspartate, which is produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of asparagine formed by hydrolysis from β-cyanoalanine, is the second most effective of the 23 amino acids. Uptake of aspartate-4-14C is much lower than of cyanide.Keywords
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