THE BIOGENESIS OF ALKALOIDS: VIII. THE ROLE OF METHIONINE IN THE FORMATION OF THE N-METHYL GROUPS OF THE ALKALOID HORDENINE

Abstract

L-Methionine labelled with C14in the methyl group was fed to sprouting barley and hordenine and choline were isolated from the plants. These two molecules proved to be labelled solely in their N-methyl groups. A comparison of formate and methionine methyl as precursors of hordenine methyl shows that the latter was more efficient. The fact that choline methyl does not serve as a precursor of hordenine methyl was confirmed and it was shown that bicarbonate is also ineffective as a methyl precursor. The significance of these findings to the over-all methylation process of the plant is discussed.