Escherichia coli K-12 mutants that carry deletions in their genes for ornithine decarboxylase (L-ornithine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.17) (speC), arginine decarboxylase (L-arginine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.19) (speA), and agmatine ureohydrolase (agmatinase or agmatine amidinohydrolase, EC 3.5.3.11) (speB) can still synthesize very small amounts of putrescine and spermidine. The putrescine concentra...

Arginine decarboxylase (encoded by adi) is induced under conditions of acidic pH, anaerobiosis, and rich medium. The DNA sequence of a 3-kb fragment of the Escherichia coli chromosome encoding biodegradative arginine decarboxylase was determined. This sequence encodes a protein of 755 amino acids with a molecular size of 84,420 daltons. The molecular weight and predicted Adi amino acid composit...

Exposing etiolated pea seedlings to ethylene which inhibited the activity of arginine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase caused an increase in the level of cadaverine. The elevated level of cadaverine resulted from an increase in lysine decarboxylase activity in the tissue exposed to ethylene. The hormone did not affect the apparent K(m) of the enzyme, but the apparent V(max) ...

Swarming contributes to Proteus mirabilis pathogenicity by facilitating access to the catheterized urinary tract. We previously demonstrated that 0.1-20 mmol/L arginine promotes swarming on normally nonpermissive media and that putrescine biosynthesis is required for arginine-induced swarming. We also previously determined that arginine-induced swarming is pH dependent, indicating that the exte...

L-Arginine is an essential amino acid for infants and growing children. This amino acid is a substrate for at least five enzymes identified in mammals, including arginase, arginine-glycine transaminase, kyotorphine synthase, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and arginine decarboxylase. L-Arginine exerts antihypertensive and antiproliferative effects on vascular smooth muscles. NOS and arginine decarb...

The process of arginine-dependent extreme acid resistance (XAR) is one of several decarboxylase-antiporter systems that protects Escherichia coli and possibly other enteric bacteria from exposure to the strong acid environment of the stomach. Arginine-dependent acid resistance depends on an intracellular proton-utilizing arginine alpha-decarboxylase and a membrane transport protein necessary fo...

Changes in the contents of polyamines (PAs) in tobacco leaves (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Wisconsin 38) grown under 16 h photoperiod were correlated with arginine and ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.19 and EC 4.1.1.17) and diamine oxidase (EC 1.4.3.6) activities. The maximum of free and soluble conjugated forms of PAs occurred 1-2 h after the middle of the light period and was followed by two d...

Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes are auxotrophic for polyamines because they are unable to synthesize putrescine de novo. This deficiency is due to the absence of ornithine and arginine decarboxylase genes in the parasite genome. We have been able to obtain transgenic T. cruzi expressing heterologous genes coding for these enzymes. Since arginine decarboxylase normal expression in oat requires a...