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Science 23 February 1968:
Vol. 159. no. 3817, pp. 886 - 888
DOI: 10.1126/science.159.3817.886
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Articles

Transamination of Aminoalkylphosphonic Acids with Alpha Ketoglutarate

Eugene Roberts 1, Daisy G. Simonsen 1, Masaaki Horiguchi 1, and James S. Kittredge 1

1 Department of Biochemistry, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, California

Dialyzed homogenates prepared from Escherichia coli, Tetrahymena pyriformis, sea anemone (Anthopleura elegantissima), and mouse liver were tested for ability to transaminate 17 aminoalkylphosphonic acids with agr-ketoglutarate. 2-Aminoethylphosphonic acid (2-AEP), which occurs naturally in Tetrahymena and anemone, was transaminated by these latter organisms more than any of the substances tested, but not by preparations from liver or E. coli. 3-Aminopropylphosphonic acid was transaminated by all preparations, but much less by Tetrahymena or anemone than was 2-AEP. 2-Amino-3-phosphonopropionic acid was transaminated by all preparations. 2-Amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid was transaminated by three of the preparations, but not by liver. Of the other 13 substances tested, the following gave positive results: DL-1,2-diaminoethylphosphonic acid with E. coli, DL-1,2-diaminoethylphosphonic and aminomethylphosphonic acids with Tetrahymena, DL-1-aminopropylphosphonic acid with anemone, and DL-1-aminoethylphosphonic and DL-1-aminobutylphosphonic acids with liver. The significance of these transaminations is discussed.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Phosphonolipids: Localization in Surface Membranes of Tetrahymena.
K. E. Kennedy and G. A. Thompson Jr. (1970)
Science 168, 989-991
   Abstract »    PDF »
A Carbon-Phosphorus Bond in Nature.
J. S. Kittredge and E. Roberts (1969)
Science 164, 37-42
   PDF »


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