Abstract
The origin of ethylene in Penicillium digitatum has been shown to be intimately associated with the Krebs cycle. 2-Ketoglutaric acid and glutamic acid are the most efficient precursors of ethylene, which is derived from carbons 3 and 4 of these substrates as a unit. However, which of these is the immediate precursor has not been established. Since 2-ketoglutaric acid is a very efficient precursor and succinic acid is an inefficient one, 2-ketoglutaric acid must be the branching point at which the pathway of ethylene biosynthesis leads away from the Krebs cycle. This conclusion is in full agreement with the following observations: Three of the four hydrogen atoms of the ethylene molecule were derived from protons of the medium; C-2 but not C-1 of acetate was incorporated into ethylene; and [2,3- 14C]succinic acid but not [2,3- 3H]succinic acid was incorporated.
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