Metabolism of monoterpenes: evidence for compartmentation of l-menthone metabolism in peppermint (Mentha piperita) leaves
Previous studies have shown that the monoterpene ketone l-(G-/sup 3/H)-menthone is reduced to the epimeric alcohols l-menthol and d-neomenthol in leaf discs of flowering peppermint (Mentha piperita L.), and that a portion of the menthol is converted to menthyl acetate while the bulk of the neomenthol is transformed to neomenthyl-..beta..-D-glucoside. When l-(3-/sup 3/H)menthol and d-(3-/sup 3/H)neomenthol are separately administered to leaf discs, both menthyl and neomenthyl acetates and menthyl and neomenthyl glucosides are formed with nearly equal facility, suggesting that the metabolic specificity observed with the ketone precursor was not a function of the specificity of the transglucosylase or transacetylase but rather a result of compartmentation of each stereospecific dehydrogenase with the appropriate transferase. Co-purification of the acceptor-mediated activities, and differential activation and inhibition studies, provided strong evidence that the same UDP-glucose-dependent enzyme could transfer glucose to either l-menthol or d-neometnthol. These results demonstrate that the specific in vivo conversion of l-menthone to l-menthyl acetate and d-neomenthyl-..beta..-D-glucoside cannot be attributed to the selectivity of the transferases, and they clearly indicate that the metabolic specificity observed is a result of compartmentation effects.
- Research Organization:
- Washington State Univ., Pullman
- OSTI ID:
- 6656538
- Journal Information:
- Plant Physiol.; (United States), Journal Name: Plant Physiol.; (United States) Vol. 68; ISSN PLPHA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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