BIOSYNTHESIS OF PUNGENIN FROM C14-LABELLED COMPOUNDS BY COLORADO SPRUCE

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Abstract
A number of C14-labelled compounds were fed to detached leafy twigs of Colorado spruce (Picea pungens Engelm.), and after a metabolic period of 24 hours the pungenin was isolated and the specified activities of the glucose moiety and the aglycone (3,4-dihydroxyacetophenone) were determined. In some instances the aglycone was degraded further to determine the C14in the methyl and carbonyl carbons separately.Caffeic acid and L-phenylalanine were the best precursors of the aglycone; cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, phenyllactic acid, and shikimic acid were quite good. Sodium acetate was a poor precursor, and was converted to glucose more readily than to the aglycone. Compounds found to be very poor precursors include tyrosine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, 3-hydroxytyramine, phenylacetic acid, mandelic acid, p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid, p-hydroxyphenyllactic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and protocatechuic acid. Cinnamic acid-α-C14gave 3,4-dihydroxyacetophenone labelled chiefly in the methyl group, while cinnamic acid-β-C14, L-phenylalanine-β-C14, p-coumaric acid-β-C14, and caffeic acid-β-C14formed 3,4-dihydroxyacetophenone labelled mainly in the carbonyl carbon. It appears that a phenylethanoid compound is formed by a process involving the loss of the terminal carbon of a phenylpropanoid compound.3,4-Dihydroxyacetophenone-carbonyl-C14was fed to spruce twigs bearing new terminal growth; up to 20% was converted to pungenin but most of it formed unidentified compounds. It was a poor precursor of lignin, compared with cinnamic acid, and a poor precursor of glutamic acid, relative to acetate.

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