Abstract
THE oxidation of the natural polyamines, spermine and spermidine, by washed cell suspensions of various bacteria has already been described1-4. Propane-1 : 3-diamine is formed from spermidine by extracts of Neisseria perflava5 and by washed cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa4, Serratia marcescens4 and Mycobacterium smegmatis6. It has been assumed that during this oxidation the four carbon moiety of spermidine is converted to γ-aminobutyraldehyde4,5 or to pyrroline 5; however, these compounds have never been isolated. This communication deals with a partially purified enzyme from Serratia marcescens which oxidizes spermidine. The oxidation products, which are formed in stoichiometric amounts, have been shown to be propane-1 : 3-diamine and pyrroline.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 377-378 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | Nature |
Volume | 194 |
Issue number | 4826 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1962 |