Non-protein amino acids in seeds of neotropical species of acacia

Abstract

Precolumn derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethylchloroformate (FMOC-Cl) and reversed phase HPLC have been used for analysis of non-protein amino acids in extracts of seeds of neotropical species of Acacia. This has revealed compounds characteristic of each of Vassal's sections Aculeiferum and Filicinae, in the subgenus Aculeiferum. Seeds of Filicinae species were characterized by the accumulation of significant amounts of 2-amino-4-acetyl-aminobutyric acid and albizzine, whereas compounds characteristic of seeds of Aculeiferum (section) species included 2,3-diaminopropionic acid and its derivatives, 2-amino-3-acetylaminopropionic acid, 2-amino-3-oxalyl-aminopropionic acid, and albizzine as the major non-protein amino acids. A scheme for the biochemical origin of marker amino acids is proposed indicating a possible divergence of species. A cladistic computer analysis has enabled the selection of an evolutionary tree most congruent with the proposed biochemical pathways.