Metabolism of L[U-14C]-arginine and L[U-14C]-ornithine in maturing and vernalised embryos and megagametophytes of Picea abies

The metabolism of the polyamine precursors arginine and ornithine was studied in maturing and vernalised seeds of Picea abies (L.) Karst, (Norway spruce) in feeding experiments. Incorporation of radioactivity from these C-14-labelled amino acids into liberated CO2, amino acids, polyamines, proteins and cell wall fractions, as well as polyamine levels were determined in embryos and megagametophytes. Ornithine and especially arginine decarboxylation was more active in the embryo than in the megagametophytic cells, and vernalisation increased arginine metabolism more than it increased ornithine metabolism. Both precursors were metabolised to each other, to other amino acids, and to polyamines. The only polyamine in which radioactivity incorporated was free putrescine, showing either a slow synthesis or a high degradation rate of spermidine and spermine in maturing spruce seeds. The putrescine level was approximately 10 times higher in the embryo than in the megagametophytic tissues, whereas spermidine and spermine levels were almost the same in both tissues. The label from arginine and ornithine was also incorporated into proteins as amino acids and post-translationally as polyamines. Higher radioactivity was seen in the small less than or equal to 14-kDa polypeptides. Protein hydrolysates of the embryo and the megagametophytic tissues contained spermidine and spermine and their degradation product 1,3-diaminopropane (DAP), suggesting that polyamines may play a role in the accumulation of seed storage protein and in the maturation of spruce seeds.