Pattern for Nitrogen Methylation

The genetic experiments, however, were improved by Koelle (1966b) in a series of publications which firmly not only established that nicotine actually undergoes A/ -demethylation but, in addition, determined the number of genes involved in this transformation. As it may be expected in a tetraploid plant (actually an alloploid), the sets of genes were double. Thus 

Inheritance Patterns Related to the Complexity of the Molecular Formula 

Some plants accumulate alkaloids with very different chemical structures which are nevertheless related biosynthetically. In some cases the biosynthetic route may be branched, but in some it is rather clear that the more complicated structures arise from the simpler molecules. The latter condition is encountered in lupines. While the majority of alkaloids are of a coupled quinolizidine structure, two uncommon alkaloids, lupinine and epilupinine, are of a simple quinolizidine structure. The idea that lupinine is a precursor of sparteine, i.e., a bisquinolizidine, was first proven by experiments in which radioactive lupinine was fed to the plants and radioactive sparteine and its derivatives were isolated (Schuette, 1960 Nowacki et al.y 1961). In this study, varieties of Lupinus luteus from Palestine, Portugal, and central Europe were tested. There were plants that produced only one major alkaloid, either sparteine or lupinine however, the hybrid plants which produced sparteine also produced a small amount of lupinine. Consequently, it was a typical example of intermediate inheritance. The F2 

In crosses of yellow lupines with lupinine as the major alkaloid with plants bearing only sparteine, the Fi plants had both alkaloids and in Fa a segregation into five groups was observed, the extreme with only one alkaloid comprising each about Viq of the Fa generation. The rest were 

Plant with compound A x plant with compound B  

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