Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1985 Oct;79(2):336–343. doi: 10.1104/pp.79.2.336

Changes in Polyamine Biosynthesis Associated with Postfertilization Growth and Development in Tobacco Ovary Tissues 1

Robert D Slocum 1, Arthur W Galston 1
PMCID: PMC1074885  PMID: 11540835

Abstract

Polyamine (PA) titers and the activities of arginine decarboxylase (ADC, EC 4.1.1.19) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, EC 4.1.1.17), enzymes which catalyze rate-limiting steps in PA biosynthesis, were monitored during tobacco ovary maturation. In the period between anthesis and fertilization, the protein content of ovary tissues rapidly increased by about 40% and was accompanied by approximately a 3-fold increase in ODC activity, while ADC activity remained nearly constant. PA titers also remained relatively unchanged until fertilization, at which time they increased dramatically and the DNA content of ovary tissues doubled. This increase in PA biosynthesis was correlated with a further 3-fold increase in ODC activity, reaching a maximum 3 to 4 days after fertilization. During this time, ADC activity increased only slightly and accounted for approximately 1% of the total decarboxylase activity when ODC activity peaked. The postfertilization burst of biosynthetic activities slightly preceded a period of rapid ovary enlargement, presumably due to new cell division. During later stages of ovary development, DNA levels fell precipitously, while PA titers and decarboxylase activities decreased to preanthesis levels more slowly. In this period, growth producing a 300% increase in ovary fresh weight appears to be the result of cell enlargement.

Synchronous changes in PA titers and in the rates of PA biosynthesis, macromolecular synthesis, and growth in the tobacco ovary suggest that PAs may play a role in the regulation of postfertilization growth and development of this reproductive organ.

Full text

PDF
336

Images in this article

337Fig. 1
on p.337

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baer G. R., Meyers S. P., Molin W. T., Schrader L. E. A simple and sensitive DNA assay for plant extracts. Plant Physiol. 1982 Oct;70(4):999–1003. doi: 10.1104/pp.70.4.999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bradford M. M. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem. 1976 May 7;72:248–254. doi: 10.1006/abio.1976.9999. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cohen E., Arad S. M., Heimer Y. H., Mizrahi Y. Polyamine Biosynthetic Enzymes in the Cell Cycle of Chlorella: Correlation between Ornithine Decarboxylase and DNA Synthesis at Different Light Intensities. Plant Physiol. 1984 Feb;74(2):385–388. doi: 10.1104/pp.74.2.385. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cohen E., Arad S. M., Heimer Y. M., Mizrahi Y. Participation of ornithine decarboxylase in early stages of tomato fruit development. Plant Physiol. 1982 Aug;70(2):540–543. doi: 10.1104/pp.70.2.540. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cohen E., Heimer Y. M., Mizrahi Y. Ornithine decarboxylase and arginine decarboxylase activities in meristematic tissues of tomato and potato plants. Plant Physiol. 1982 Aug;70(2):544–546. doi: 10.1104/pp.70.2.544. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dumortier F. M., Flores H. E., Shekhawat N. S., Galston A. W. Gradients of polyamines and their biosynthetic enzymes in coleoptiles and roots of corn. Plant Physiol. 1983 Aug;72(4):915–918. doi: 10.1104/pp.72.4.915. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Faivre J., Milan C., Joyeux J., Martin F., Dusserre L., Klepping C. Les facteurs du pronostic immédiat des hémorragies digestives traitées médicalement chez le cirrhotique. Etude statistique. Pathol Biol (Paris) 1981 Sep;29(7):399–404. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Feirer R. P., Mignon G., Litvay J. D. Arginine decarboxylase and polyamines required for embryogenesis in the wild carrot. Science. 1984 Mar 30;223(4643):1433–1435. doi: 10.1126/science.223.4643.1433. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Heimer Y. M., Mizrahi Y., Bachrach U. Ornithine decarboxylase activity in rapidly proliferating plant cells. FEBS Lett. 1979 Aug 1;104(1):146–148. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(79)81102-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Heimer Y. M., Mizrahi Y. Characterization of ornithine decarboxylase of tobacco cells and tomato ovaries. Biochem J. 1982 Feb 1;201(2):373–376. doi: 10.1042/bj2010373. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Loomis W. D. Overcoming problems of phenolics and quinones in the isolation of plant enzymes and organelles. Methods Enzymol. 1974;31:528–544. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(74)31057-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Slocum R. D., Kaur-Sawhney R., Galston A. W. The physiology and biochemistry of polyamines in plants. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1984 Dec;235(2):283–303. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(84)90201-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Tabor C. W., Tabor H. Polyamines. Annu Rev Biochem. 1984;53:749–790. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.53.070184.003533. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Tiburcio A. F., Kaur-Sawhney R., Ingersoll R. B., Galston A. W. Correlation between polyamines and pyrrolidine alkaloids in developing tobacco callus. Plant Physiol. 1985;78:323–326. doi: 10.1104/pp.78.2.323. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES