ornithine is a non-proteinogenic amino acid, which plays an essential role in the metabolism of plants. regard to the chirality of the molecule, physiological response of the plant cells to its two enantiomers have not been widely investigated yet. in the present study, suspension-cultured tobacco cells were treated with 1 mm of d- and lenantiomers of ornithine in normal conditions as well as u...

Ornithine is a non-proteinogenic amino acid, which plays an essential role in the metabolism of plants. Regard to the chirality of the molecule, physiological response of the plant cells to its two enantiomers have not been widely investigated yet. In the present study, suspension-cultured tobacco cells were treated with 1 mM of D- and Lenantiomers of ornithine in normal conditions as well as u...

Bailey et al. report in this issue of the journal (beginning on page 35) one of the first successful trials of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) prevention. Oral alpha-difluoromethyl-dl-ornithine (DFMO) reduced new BCCs in patients with a prior history of nonmelanoma skin cancer. DFMO is an inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, a key enzyme in the polyamine biosynthetic pathway. This perspective on Ba...

In pyrrolizidine alkaloid-bearing Heliotropium angiospermum and H. indicum shoots exposed, in the light, to (14)C-labeled CO(2) for 44 hours, the incorporation of (14)C into 1,2-epoxy-1-hydroxymethylpyrrolizidine and retronecine amounted to 0.23 and 0.15%, respectively, of the total carbon assimilated. Treatment of the shoots with alpha-dl-difluoromethylornithine, the specific ornithine decarbo...