Precursors biogenic

Grosjean D, EL Williams II, E Grosjean (1993b) A biogenic precursor of peroxypropionyl nitrate atmospheric oxidation of cw-3-hexen-l-ol. Environ Sci Technol 27 979-981. 

These are four monoamines synthesized and seereted within many mammalian tissues, ineluding various regions in the brain, sympathetic nervous system, enlero-chromafhn cells of the digestive tract, and adrenal mednlla. These biogenic amines (indoleamine and catecholamines — dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine) are synthesized within the cell from their precursor amino acids and have been associated with many physiological and behavioral functions in animals and humans. 

Several amino acids are broken down by de-carbo qflation. This reaction gives rise to what are known as biogenic amines, which have various functions. Some of them are components of biomolecules, such as ethanolamine in phospholipids (see p. 50). Cysteamine and T-alanine are components of coenzyme A (see p.l2) and of pantetheine (see pp. 108, 168). Other amines function as signaling substances. An important neurotransmitter derived from glutamate is y-aminobutyrate (GABA, see p.356). The transmitter dopamine is also a precursor for the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine (see p.352). The biogenic amine serotonin, a substance that has many effects, is synthesized from tryptophan via the intermediate 5-hydroxytryptophan. 

The characterization of a novel series of biomarkers is illustrated with the g 7 2-dialkylalkanes in bitumen from a hydrothermal system on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The total bitumen consists of hydrocarbons, a major UCM (unresolved complex mixture of branched and cyclic compounds) and mature biomarkers (e.g. hopanes) (Fig. 13a). The bitumen contains a series of cyclopentylalkanes Cfi 2n) that range from n = 14 to 34, with only even-chained pseudohomologs and a concentration maximum (Cmax) at n = 18. Their source is biogenic, based on the presence of only even-carbon number homologs, but the precursors are unknown. 

By analogy with the biogenesis of oximes via oxidation of amino acids or biogenic amines, the biosynthetic pathway for insertion of the ketoxime function into the antibiotic, nocardicin A (18), was shown to be dependent on the oxidation of the corresponding primary amine precursor of 18 by cytochrome PTSO ". Similarly, the formation of the ketoxime bond of verongamine (17) is attributed to the oxidation of a primary amine precursor . 

Biogenic hpidocrodte was first discovered by Lowenstam (1967) in the radula teeth of a chiton. The crystals are lath-shaped and several tenths of xm long with terminal 101 faces (Webb et al., 1989) (see Fig. 4.14a). The lepidocrocite is often associated with magnetite and ferrihydrite suggesting an Fe" precursor (see Chap. 13). 

Whilst the term biogenic amine strictly encompasses all amines of biological origin, for the purpose of this article it will be employed to refer to the catecholamine (dopamine, noradrenaline) and serotonin group of neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters are generated from the amino acid precursors tyrosine and tryptophan, respectively, via the action of the tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4)-dependent tyrosine and tryptophan hydroxylases. Hydroxylation of the amino acid substrates leads to formation of 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine ( -dopa) and 5-hydroxytryptophan, which are then decarboxylated via the pyridoxalphosphate-dependent aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) to yield dopamine and serotonin [4]. In noradrenergic neurones, dopamine is further metabolised to noradrenaline through the action of dopamine-jS-hydroxylase [1]. 

T Bauza, A Blaise, F Daumas, JC Cabanis. Determination of biogenic amines and their precursor amino acids in wines of the Vallee du Rhone by high-performance liquid chromatography with precolumn derivatization and fluorimetric detection. J Chromatogr A 707 373-379, 1995. 

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