Abstract
Mann and Quastel1 showed that choline is oxidized to betaine aldehyde by homogenates of rat liver, and evidence was obtained that the betaine aldehyde so formed was further oxidized to betaine. Bernheim and Bernheim2 showed that synthetic betaine aldehyde was oxidized to betaine at pH 7.8 by extracts of rat liver, but at pH 6.7 betaine aldehyde remained unchanged. As the result of further experiments, Mann, Woodward and Quastel3 concluded that the choline oxidase system consists of choline dehydrogenase, cytochrome c and cytochrome oxidase. Muntz4 has shown that betaine, formed by oxidation of choline, is an active donor of a labile methyl group for transmethylation in animal tissues. Although betaine is of widespread occurrence in plants, particularly in the Chenopodiaceæ, little is known of the mode of synthesis and the part played by this compound in the metabolism of higher plants.
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References
Mann, P. J. G., and Quastel, J. H., Biochem. J., 31, 869 (1937).
Bernheim, F., and Bernheim, M. L. C., Amer. J. Physiol., 121, 55 (1938).
Mann, P. J. G., Woodward, H. E., and Quastel, J. H., Biochem. J., 32, 1024 (1938). Muntz, J. A., J. Biol. Chem., 182, 489 (1950).
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CROMWELL, B., RENNIE, S. Occurrence of Choline Oxidase in Plant Tissues. Nature 171, 79–80 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1038/171079a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/171079a0
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