C. J. Morris, J. Thompson
Jun 1, 1965
Citations
0
Influential Citations
23
Citations
Journal
Archives of biochemistry and biophysics
Abstract
Abstract Radioactive meta -carboxyphenylalanine-2-C 14 was synthesized and fed to different tissues of Wedgewood iris and to Reseda leaves. Only iris leaves showed any appreciable metabolism of the labeled amino acid, with the label appearing in meta -carboxyphenylglycine and not in other amino acids. m -Carboxyphenylglycine was isolated by paper chromatography, and its identity was established by radioautography and crystallization to constant specific activity. Degradation of this amino acid established that the label was in the α-carboxyl group. These results strongly suggest that m -carboxyphenylalanine has been converted to its next lower homologue with loss of the carboxyl carbon, a transformation that has not heretofore been demonstrated to occur naturally.