Ethyl alcohol metabolism in leguminous seedlings.

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Abstract
An investigation in which excised pea roots incubated with ethyl alcohol-1 or -2-C14, and with correspondingly labeled sodium acetate, indicated certain qualitative differences in the metabolites formed from these 2 substrates. One notable difference is the formation of appreciable quantities of a neutral nonvolatile metabolite from ethyl alcohol labeled in either C. This metabolite was purified by ion exchange, charcoal absorption, paper chromatography, and mild acid hydrolysis and was identified as ethyl [beta]B-glucoside. An enzyme which is able to catalyze the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetate by diphosphorpyridine nucleotide was demonstrated in pea and peanut seedlings. Triphosphopyridine nucleotide could substitute for diphosphopyridine nucleotide. This enzyme was purified over 100-fold from acetone powder of germinating peanut cotyledons by acetone pres-cipitation, protamine sulfate treatment and isoelectric precipitation. The possible roles of ethyl [beta]B-glucoside and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase are discussed in terms of the physiology of alcohol dissimilation.