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Science 30 March 1984:
Vol. 223. no. 4643, pp. 1433 - 1435
DOI: 10.1126/science.223.4643.1433
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Articles

Arginine Decarboxylase and Polyamines Required for Embryogenesis in the Wild Carrot

RUSSELL P. FEIRER 1, GAIL MIGNON 1, and JOHN D. LITVAY 1

1 Forestry Division, Institute of Paper Chemistry, Appleton, Wisconsin 54912

Embryogenic cultures of Daucus carota treated with 1 millimolar agr-difluoromethylarginine, a specific inhibitor of arginine decarboxylase, exhibited nearly a 50 percent reduction in embryo formation compared with controls. Putrescine and spermidine concentrations in the treated cells were greatly reduced. Addition of putrescine, spermidine, or spermine to the culture medium restored embryogenesis in the treated cultures. Embryogenesis was not significantly affected by agr-difluoromethylornithine, an inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase. These results suggest that polyamines have a major function in plant embryo development and that the wild carrot synthesizes polyamines through the biosynthetic pathway involving arginine decarboxylase rather than ornithine decarboxylase.

Submitted on December 19, 1983
Accepted on January 24, 1984


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Polyamines Induce Rapid Biosynthesis of Nitric Oxide (NO) in Arabidopsis thaliana Seedlings.
N. N. Tun, C. Santa-Catarina, T. Begum, V. Silveira, W. Handro, E. I. S. Floh, and G. F. E. Scherer (2006)
Plant Cell Physiol. 47, 346-354
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Temporal Regulation of Somatic Embryogenesis by Adjusting Cellular Polyamine Content in Eggplant.
J. Singh Yadav and M. Venkat Rajam (1998)
Plant Physiology 116, 617-625
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genetics of Polyamine Synthesis in Tobacco: Developmental Switches in the Flower.
R. L. Malmberg, J. McIndoo, A.C. Hiatt, and B.A. Lowe (1985)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 50, 475-482
   Abstract »    PDF »


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