Tryptophan indole and

The aroma of butter made from sweet cream is affected primarily by free fatty acids (especially capric and lauric acids), S- and y-lactones, dimethylsulfide, (Z)-hept-4-enal and the degradation products of tryptophan (indole and skatole). The butter obtained from sour cream contains mainly metabolic products of microorganisms (so-called starter cultures). Especially important compounds are biacetyl, lactic and acetic acids. 

Enzymatic Process. Chemically synthesized substrates can be converted to the corresponding amino acids by the catalytic action of an enzyme or the microbial cells as an enzyme source, t - Alanine production from L-aspartic acid, L-aspartic acid production from fumaric acid, L-cysteine production from DL-2-aminothiazoline-4-catboxyhc acid, D-phenylglycine (and D-/> -hydtoxyphenylglycine) production from DL-phenyUiydantoin (and DL-/)-hydroxyphenylhydantoin), and L-tryptophan production from indole and DL-serine have been in operation as commercial processes. Some of the other processes shown in Table 10 are at a technical level high enough to be useful for commercial production (24). Representative chemical reactions used ia the enzymatic process are shown ia Figure 6. 

Within our laboratory we have shown that using the combination of PyMS and ANNs it is possible to follow the production of indole in a number of strains of E. coli grown on media incorporating various amounts of tryptophan,98 and to estimate the amount of casamino acids in mixtures with glycogen.99 It was also shown that it is possible to quantify the (bio)chemical constituents of complex binary mixtures of proteins and nucleic acids in glycogen, and to measure the concentrations of binary and tertiary mixtures of Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus.93,100... 

Champier, J., Claustrat, B., Besancon, R. el al. (1997). Evidence for tryptophan hydroxylase and hydroxy-indol-O-methyl-transferase mRNAs in human blood platelets. Life Sci 60, 2191-7. 

Indole alkaloids from Tabernaemontana plants are all biogenetically derived from tryptophan (tryptamine) and secologanine, which constitute the indole and terpenic portions, respectively, and can be classified into nine main types depending on the structural characteristics of their skeleton (Fig. 1). 

The case of indole and tryptophan is peculiar because the low-lying absorption bands overlap. Box 5.2 shows how the indole absorption spectrum can be resolved into two bands from the combined measurement of the excitation spectrum and the exdtation polarization spectrum. 

Analogous results for the temperature dependence of tR have been obtained in fluorescence studies of indole and tryptophan in glycerol/24,33) Therefore, the above approach may be considered to be adequate for the description of the dynamics of the model viscous media. 

Considerable red-edge effects exhibiting a dependence on the viscosity of the medium are observed for model solutions of indole and tryptophan(33) (Figure 2.11a), which permits this approach to be applied to studies of the dynamics of the environment of tryptophan residues in proteins. In discussion... 

This enzyme [EC 2.4.2.18], also referred to as phospho-ribosyl-anthranilate pyrophosphorylase, catalyzes the reaction of anthranilate with phosphoribosylpyrophos-phate to produce A-5 -phosphoribosylanthranilate and pyrophosphate. In certain species, this enzyme is part of a multifunctional protein, together with one or more other components of the system for the biosynthesis of tryptophan (i.e., indole-3-glycerol-phosphate synthase, anthranilate synthase, tryptophan synthase, and phos-phoribosylanthranilate isomerase). 

This enzyme [EC 4.1.99.1], also known as L-tryptophan indole-lyase, catalyzes the hydrolysis of L-tryptophan to generate indole, pyruvate, and ammonia. The reaction requires pyridoxal phosphate and potassium ions. The enzyme can also catalyze the synthesis of tryptophan from indole and serine as well as catalyze 2,3-elimination and j8-replacement reactions of some indole-substituted tryptophan analogs of L-cysteine, L-serine, and other 3-substituted amino acids. 

This pyridoxal-phosphate-dependent enzyme [EC 4.2.1.20] catalyzes the reaction of L-serine with l-(indol-3-yl)glycerol 3-phosphate to produce L-tryptophan and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. The enzyme will also catalyze (a) the conversion of serine and indole into tryptophan and water and (b) conversion of indoleglycerol phosphate into indole and glyceraldehyde phosphate. 

Indole-3-acetaldoxime (30) and 4-hydroxyphenylacetaldoxime were shown to be metabolized by plant and pest fungi to 32 and to other related indole- and 4-hydroxyphenyl carboxylic acids, however, the biochemical transformation differed between the two fungi. These biochemical transformations may be relevant to the ability of certain fungi to cause plant diseases . Compound 30 has been shown to be a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of camalexin, 3-thiazolyl-2 -yl-indole, a member of the family of phytoalexins that are produced in response to pathogen attack. It was demonstrated that CYP71A13 catalyzes the conversion of 30 to indole-3-acetonitrile, which is essential for the biosynthesis of camalexin. Thus, the literature supplies a large body of evidence for the existence of a set of enzymes dedicated to the production of the auxin, 32, from tryptophan via indole-3-acetaldoxime (30). 

The precursors of true alkaloids and protoalkaloids are aminoacids (both their precursors and postcursors), while transamination reactions precede pseudoalkaloids (Tables 1 and 10). It is not difficult to see that from all aminoacids only a small part is known as alkaloid precursors (Table 19). Both true and proto alkaloids are synthesized mainly from the aromatic amino acids, phenylalanine, tyrosine (isoquinoline alkaloids) and tryptophan (indole alkaloids). Lysine is the... 

Tryptophane was found by Hopkins and Cole to have the empirical formula CnHijN Oz and to yield large amounts of indole and skatole when heated, and when subjected to putrefaction by bacteria the above-mentioned four products resulted. As under anaerobic conditions a large yield of skatoleacetic acid was obtained, and as skatole was the principal product when it was fused with potash, Hopkins and Cole regarded their substance as skatoleaminoacetic acid rather than the isomeric indoleaminopropionic acid. 

The constitution of indole and skatole had been proved by synthesis, but that of the other two compounds had not been determined, and Nencki s formulae for them were accepted. Investigations by Ellinger and Gentzen in 1903, who found that in the large intestine indole was formed in large amounts from tryptophane, but skatole only in small amounts, and that skatole only gave traces of indole under the same conditions led Ellinger to doubt the accuracy of Nencki s formulae for skatoleacetic and skatolecarboxylic acids, more especially as Wislicenus and Arnold s skatolecarboxylic acid, which was synthesised from pro-pionyl formic acid phenylhydrazone had the formula... 

Iyase, ° cystathione y-Iyase, and tryptophan indole lyase are particularly... 

Test for indole Indole is a component of the amino acid tryptophan, which can he broken down by the bacterial enzyme tryptophanase. When tryptophan is broken down, the presence of indole can be detected through the use of Kovacs reagent. Kovacs reagent, which is yellow, reacts with indole and produces a red colour on the surface of the test tube. Kovacs reagent is prepared by dissolving 10 g of p-aminobenzaldehyde in 150 mL of isoamylalcohol and then slowly adding 50 mL of concentrated HCl. 

MECHANISM FIGURE 22-18 Tryptophan synthase reaction. This enzyme catalyzes a multistep reaction with several types of chemical rearrangements. An aldol cleavage produces indole and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate this reaction does not require PLP. Dehydration of serine forms a PLP-aminoacrylate intermediate. In steps and this condenses with indole, and the product is hydrolyzed to release tryptophan. These PLP-facilitated transformations occur at the /3 carbon (C-3) of the amino acid, as opposed to the a-carbon reactions described in Figure 18-6. The /3 carbon of serine is attached to the indole ring system. Tryptophan Synthase Mechanism... 

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