METABOLISM OF TYRAMINE AND FERULOYLTRAMINE IN TMV INOCULATED LEAVES OF NICOTIANA-TABACUM

TMV inoculation is known to stimulate tyramine N-feruloyl-CoA transferase activity in Nicotiana tabacum cv Xanthi n.c. leaves during the hypersensitive reaction. When [2-14C]-tyramine is fed for 2 hr to TMV inoculated leaf discs or detached leaves, ca 1% of the supplied radioactivity is integrated into cinnamoyl-, p-coumaroyl- and feruloyltyramine and up to 14% is integrated into the cell wall residue. [2-14C]-tyramine can only be partially released from this residue by acid hydrolysis. After nitrobenzene oxidation, 97% of the radioactivity found in the cell walls is made soluble but only 13% is recovered in p-hydroxybenzaldehyde. Feruloyltyramine is very rapidly metabolised, ca 20% of the administered radioactivity is found after 2 hr feeding in unidentified methanol soluble metabolites. Acid hydrolysis of the cell wall fraction, which hydrolyses the amide bond of feruloyltyramine, releases labelled tyramine, while radioactivity is still detected in the acid insoluble residue. Label from [14C]-feruloyltyramine is integrated into this residue more quickly than from free [2-14C]-tyramine.