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The degradation of canavanine by jack bean cotyledons

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Summary

Germinating jack bean cotyledons liberated 14CO2 when fed 14C-guanidoxy-canavanine but did not accumulate any 14C-compounds other than the applied canavanine. This suggested that the canavanine was being degraded by the action of canavanase to canaline and urea, the urea then being converted to ammonia and carbon dioxide by the action of urease. Hydroxyurea and acetohydroxamic acid (both inhibitors of urease activity) strongly inhibited the liberation of 14CO2 from 14C-guanidoxy-canavanine by the cotyledons but neither compound induced the accumulation of 14C-urea within the tissues. This inhibitory action of hydroxyurea on 14CO2 output was thought to be due at least in part, to this inhibition of canavanase activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, U.K.

    J. A. Whiteside & D. A. Thurman

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  1. J. A. Whiteside
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  2. D. A. Thurman
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Whiteside, J.A., Thurman, D.A. The degradation of canavanine by jack bean cotyledons. Planta 98, 279–284 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380228

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380228

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