A New Polyamine , Thermospermine , 1 , 12 - Diamino - 4 & diazadodecane , from an

In uitro poly(U)-directed polyphenylalanine synthesis, catalyzed by a cell-free extract of an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus, at 65”C, required the presence of a polyamine such as spermine (1). To study the implications of polyamines in protein synthesis in uiuo, the polyamine composition in the cells of the thermophile was investigated. Two polyamines were extracted as major polyamine components and one of these was determined to be a new polyamine, l,ll-diamino-4,&diazaundecane (NHs(CHs)aNH(CHs)aNH(CHs)sNHs), and the trivial name thermine was proposed for this new tetraamine (2). Since then, thermine (also called norspermine or sym-norspermine) was found in an acidothermophile (3) and mesophihc eukaryotic organisms (4-6). The other polyamine was thought to be spermine, based on its chromatographic behavior (2). However, I recently found that the polyamine was not spermine, but rather a new naturally occurring tetraamine, and I have proposed the trivial