The effects of eritadenine, a constituent of the Lentinus edodes mushroom, and ethanolamine, the base constituent of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), on fatty acid desaturase activities and lipid profiles were investigated comparatively in rats. Rats were fed a control diet or a diet supplemented with either eritadenine (0.05 g/kg) or ethanolamine (8 g/kg) for 14 d. Eritadenine and ethanolamine h...

A base exchange reaction for synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine by the endoplasmic reticulum of castor bean (Ricinus comminus L. var Hale) endosperm has been examined. The calculated Michaelis-Menten constant of the enzyme for ethanolamine was 5 micromolar and the optimal pH was 7.8 in the presence of 2 millimolar CaCl(2). l-Serine, N-methylethanolamine and N,N-dimethylethanolamine all reduc...

In barley, glycine betaine is a metabolic end product accumulated by wilted leaves; betaine accumulation involves acceleration of de novo synthesis from serine, via ethanolamine, N-methylethanolamines, choline, and betaine aldehyde (Hanson, Scott 1980 Plant Physiol 66: 342-348). Because in animals and microorganisms the N-methylation of ethanolamine involves phosphatide intermediates, and becau...

Conversion of ethanolamine to choline (l), with methionine serving as the methyl donor (2), has been established in the intact animal. Stetten (1) observed that the labeled nitrogen of ethanolamine-N15 was retained in the choline molecule, and we determined that the carbon chain of ethanolamine is the precursor in vivo of the choline carbon chain (3). Conversion of ethanolamine to choline by in...

2-Aminoethylarsonic acid was tested for its ability to act as a substrate for ethanolamine-phosphate cytidylytransferase as a cytidylyl acceptor in place of ethanolamine phosphate. The expected product, like all mixed anhydrides of arsonic acids, should hydrolyse spontaneously with regeneration of the substrate analogue and CMP formation; such CMP production was observed. The limiting velocity ...

Ethanolamine phosphotransferase (EPT) is a key enzyme responsible for the synthesis of ethanolamine glycerophospholipids. Plasmenylethanolamine is a predominant molecular subclass of ethanolamine glycerophospholipids in the heart. The present study was designed to identify the selective use of 1-O-alk-1'-enyl-2-acyl-sn-glycerol as a substrate for EPT as a mechanism responsible for the predomina...

The genes required for use of ethanolamine as a carbon and nitrogen source are encoded by a single operon (eut) whose expression is induced by the simultaneous presence of both ethanolamine and cobalamin (vitamin B12). The action of B12 as an inducer of this operon reflects the fact that this cofactor is required by the degradative enzyme ethanolamine lyase (eutBC). The eutR gene encodes a prot...

Ethanolamine, a product of the breakdown of phosphatidylethanolamine from cell membranes, is abundant in the human intestinal tract and in processed foods. Effective utilization of ethanolamine as a carbon and nitrogen source may provide a survival advantage to bacteria that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract and may influence the virulence of pathogens. In this work, we describe a unique serie...