Polyamine Metabolism and Ionic Stress:
1. Potassium deficiency:
Plants undergo great changes in polyamine's levels, especially Putrescine
levels, as a result of nutritional deficiencies. Previous works have
shown that Putrescine accumulates in K+ deficient leaves of tomato, cabbage,
radish, lettuce, pea, beet, oat, rye, tobacco, banana, maize, Ribes nigrum,
broad bean, and spinach. Therefore, diamine accumulation as a result of potassium
deficiency is widespread among mono and dicotyledonous plants. Putrescine
in K+ deficient barley and clover can reach levels of 23 µmol/g dry
weight. Putrescine accounts for at least 20 % of the total plant nitrogen
under these circumstances (Slocum 1991).
2. Other mineral deficiencies:
Deficiency in other minerals and salts such as K, P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn,
S, B and KCl also cause increase in the levels of polyamines, but not in
such a striking range as K+ (Slocum 1991).
3. Acid stress:
Under acidic conditions, ADC activity increases. The amines produced
by this, help raise the medium pH to values more favorable to the growth(Slocum
1991).
Polyamine Metabolism and Environmental Changes:
1. Environmental pollutants:
Ozone is an important component of air pollution. It has significant
influences in photosynthesis. Levels of Ozone induce a number of biochemical
changes. One of these changes is the increase in polyamines(Slocum 1991).
2. Heat and drought stress:
The usual response to stress is an increase in one, or sometimes more,
of the polyamines that was already there before the stress. However, under
heat stress, it has been shown that plant cells can induce the formation
a new polyamines. The most common of these polyamines formed under
heat stress are norspermidine and norspermine (Slocum 1991).
Prices:
I will assume that we will be able to use equipment from a laboratory in
Brazil or here in the USA, for example in MIT. Then the materials necessary
are:
HEPES
|
500g
|
192.50
|
DTT
|
25g
|
270.10
|
EDTA
|
100g
|
61.60
|
Pyrodoxal Phosphate
|
5g
|
83.80
|
Ascorbic Acid
|
100g
|
47.45
|
Vinyl Pyrolidine
|
500g
|
65.65
|
Pharmacia PD10 Columns
|
30
|
150.00
|
Ornithine
|
100g
|
40.40
|
14C Ornithine
|
250uCi
|
1074.20
|
| Arginine |
500g
|
75.65
|
14C Arginine
|
250uCi |
1074.20
|
| SAM |
500mg
|
218.35
|
TOTAL
|
|
3353.9
|