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Polyamines acid extracted from roots, stems, leaves, flower buds, flowers and seeds of eight Brassica crop plants (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Komatsuna, Chingensai, turnip, Aburana and Seiyou-aburana) with or without clubroot disease were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. Endogenous concentrations of polyamines per wet weight of the organ were calculated. In cabbage, broccoli and Komatsuna clubroot galls, the levels of putrescine, spermidine and spermine were increased whereas the levels of agmatine levels were decreased after the infection with a protist, Plasmodiophora brassicae. The levels of 2-phenylethylamine and homospermidine found in the normal healthy roots were decreased in the clubroots. The thermospermine level in broccoli was higher in the sprout stem than in the sprout root or other organs. A high agmatine level was found in the healthy sprouts and flower buds of broccoli and cauliflower flower buds. Diaminopropane, cadaverine and norspermine were detected in some Brassica organs as a minor polyamine. The seeds of the eight Brassica plants were rich in spermine and spermidine.

Polyvinyl-alcohol-degrading bacteria were isolated from the fruit of a grape in Yokosuka, Japan. The isolated strain, Zumi 37T, was a Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, motile, non-spore-forming and strictly aerobic chemo-organotroph, showing optimal growth at pH 7.5, 30 °C and 0.1 % (w/v) NaCl. The major respiratory quinone was Q-8. The predominant fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0 and C16 : 1ω7c. The major polyamines were homospermidine and putrescine. The predominant polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The DNA G+C content of the novel strain was 64.2 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison revealed that strain Zumi 37T belongs to the family Sinobacteraceae within the class Gammaproteobacteria . Steroidobacter denitrificans DSM 18526T was the most closely related species with a validly published name, with 98.0 % similarity based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison (and showed less than 87.5 % sequence similarity to members of the genera Alkanibacter , Fontimonas , Hydrocarboniphaga , Nevskia and Solimonas with known 16S rRNA gene sequences). Phenotypes for growth under aerobic conditions and on complex media and major fatty acid composition, differed greatly from those of with comparatively high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. Based on phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic evidence, it is proposed that strain Zumi 37T represents a novel species in a new genus for which the name Povalibacter uvarum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species is Zumi 37T ( = JCM 18749T = DSM 26723T).

Cellular polyamines of 25 newly validated thermophilic, acidophilic, alkaliphilic or radio-resistant bacteria (eubacteria) and 35 methanogenic, thermophilic or extremely halophilic archaea (archaebacteria) were analyzed by HPLC and GC. In the domain Bacteria, quaternary branched penta-amines, N4-bis(aminopropyl) norspermidine and/or N4-bis (aminopropyl)spermidine, were detected in the extreme thermophiles, Hydrogenovirga and Thermodesulfidibacter of the phylum Aquificae and Thermus of the phylum Thermus-Deinococcus. A liner penta-amine, homocaldopentamine, was found in moderately thermophilic Thermodesulfovibrio. Spermine, a tetra-amine, was found in the moderate thermophiles, Meiothermus, Exilispira, Desulfurispora, Desulfotomaculum, Caloramator and Calditerrivibrio but not in slightly thermophilc Thiofava and mesophilic radio-resistant Deinococcus. An acidophilic slight thermophile, Acidimicrobium, contained only cadaverine as a novel polyamine profile. The occurrence of spermine in mesophilic Acanthopleuribacter belonging to the phylum Acidobacteria was a unique profile. Alkaliphilic Alkalibacterium species were devoid of cellular polyamines. In the phylum Euryarchaeota of the domain Archaea, the branched penta-amines were distributed in the extremely thermophilic genera, Methanocaldococcus, Archaeoglobus and Thermococcus but not in hyperthermophilic Methanopyrus as well as in the mesophilic genera, Methanobacterium, Methanosaeta, Methanolobus, Methanocella and Methanofollis. Some methanogenic mesophiles contained spermine. Long and branched polyamines were not found in 23 extreme halophiles and halalkaliphiles belonging to the order Halobacteriales.

In an attempt to elucidate the effects of estrogen on polyamine metabolism in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mice, we assayed polyamine content and the activity of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SAT) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in some organs. LPS elevated N1-acetylspermidine levels in the liver and lung and putrescine levels in the liver, lung and spleen. LPS increased the activity of ODC at 6 h and that of SAT at 12 h in the liver. When estradiol-17 beta was simultaneously administered with LPS, the maximum increase in hepatic N1-acetylspermidine levels was found 6 h earlier than in the LPS control. Likewise, the peak of the hepatic SAT activity after LPS-treatment was observed 6 h earlier in the estradiol-17 beta-treated mice than in the LPS control. No such effect of estradiol-17 beta was found in the lung and spleen. The LPS-induced ODC activity was not affected by estradiol-17 beta in the liver, lung or spleen. Estrone and 16 beta-ethylestradiol (an anti-estrogen) were also effective in enhancing the LPS-induced elevation of N1-acetyl-spermidine and putrescine in the liver, while both diethylstilbestrol, which has a potent estrogenic activity without steroid structure and estradiol-17 alpha (a non-estrogenic isomer of estradiol-17 beta) were without effect. Tamoxifen (an estrogen receptor antagonist) did not suppress the estrogen-induced increase in hepatic N1-acetylspermidine levels.

Cellular polyamines acid-extracted from fourteen archaea (archaebacteria) belonging to the phyla, Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota, including nine newly validated species, grown under different culture conditions were analyzed using HPLC and GC. The following archaebacteria were studied: moderately thermophilic Methanothermobacter, Ferroplasma, Thermogymnomonas, and Acidianus species; a slightly thermophilic methanogen, Methanolinea tarda, and a mesophilic methanogen, Methanosaeta contilii, contained triamines and tetra-amines. Hyperthermophilic Thermococcus, Pyrococcus, and Ignicoccus contained a quaternary branched penta-amine, N4-bis(aminopropyl)spermidine, and two linear penta-amines, in addition to triamines and tetra-amines, respectively. When Thermococcus, Pyrococcus, and Sulfurisphaera species were cultivated under different growth temperatures (60-100°C) and salt concentrations (0.15%-2.5% NaCl), temperature and salt dependent long or branched polyamine syntheses, increasing under higher temperatures and higher salt conditions, were observed.

Cellular polyamines of 44 newly validated eubacterial thermophiles growing at 45-80°C, belonging to eight orders (six phyla) of the domain Bacteria, were analyzed by HPLC and GC. A quaternary branched penta-amine, N4-bis(aminopropyl)norspermidine, was found in Hydrogenivirga and Sulfurihydrogenibium belonging to the order of Aquificales. Another quaternary branched penta-amine, N4-bis(aminopropyl) spermidine, was detected in Thermovibrio, Desulfurobacterium (Aquificales), Moorella, Desul-fovirgula (Thermoanaerobacteriales), Thermaerobacter (Clostridiales), Caldalkalibacillus, Thermobacillus (Bacillales), and Desulfothermus (Desulfovibrionales of the phylum Proteobacteria). The two branched penta- amines as well as linear penta- and hexa-amines were produced by Thermus species of the order Thermales. Marinitoga and Fervidobacterium (Thermotogales) contained linear penta-amines. The production of these long polyamines was dependent on culture temperature and remarkable at 70-80°C in the extreme/ hyper-thermophiles and to alkaline medium pH 8.5-9.0 in moderately thermophilic bacilli. The long polyamines were not detected in moderately thermophilic Anaerolinea (Anaerolineales of the phylum Chloroflexi). Distribution of either or both long linear polyamines and/or quaternary branched polyamines in the extreme/hyper-thermophiles is also reflected in their phylogenetical evolved locations.

Cellular polyamines of 61 archaeal newly published strains were analyzed by HPLC to evaluate correlation of polyamine profiles to their extremophily and chemotaxonomy. A quaternary branched penta-amine, N4-bis( aminopropyl )spermidine, was found in hyperthermophilic Methanocaldococcus and Methanotorris belonging to the family Methanocaldococcaceae but not in the family Methanococcaceae nor any other methanogenic archaeal orders. Hyperthermophilic / extremely thermophilic Palaeococcus, Thermococcus and Pyrococcus of the order Thermococcales ubiquitously contained the branched penta-amine. Mesophilic, extreme halophiles including halo-alkaliphiles, belonging to the order Halobacteriales, contained a trace of spermidine, spermine and agmatine. In the phylum Crenarchaeota, extremely thermophilic Caldisphaera of the provisional order 'Caldisphaerales' contained norspermidine, spermidine and agmatine, and hyperthermophilic Pyrobaculum belonging to the order Thermoproteales contained norspermidine, spermidine, norspermine and spermine, but not any penta-amines. Within the order Desulfurococcales, Desulfurococcus and Ignisphaera contained spermidine, norspermidine, homospermidine, norspermine and spermine, whereas Aeropyrum contained caldopentamine and thermopentamine in addition to these triamines and tetra-amines.

Three strains of bacteria that degrade the cyanobacterial hepatotoxin microcystin, Y2T, MDB2 and MDB3, were isolated from a eutrophic lake, Lake Suwa, and the Tenryu River, Japan, and characterized. These strains were aerobic and chemo-organotrophic and their cells were Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rods, motile by means of single polar flagella. Yellow-pigmented colonies were formed on nutrient agar media. The strains assimilated only citrate among the organic compounds tested as carbon sources. The G+C content of genomic DNA ranged from 63.6 to 63.7 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the new isolates formed a tight cluster within the family Sphingomonadaceae but were clearly separate from established genera of this family, e.g. Sphingomonas, Sphingobium, Novosphingobium and Sphingopyxis; sequence similarities between the new isolates and type strains from established genera ranged from 90.9 to 94.9 %. Chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data supported the conclusion that these strains were members of the family Sphingomonadaceae. The major components of the cellular fatty acids were 18 : 1omega7c (36-41 %) and 16 : 1omega7c (33-36 %). Hydroxy fatty acids were mainly 2-OH 14 : 0 (11-13 %), and 3-OH fatty acids were absent. Glycosphingolipids were detected. Ubiquinone-10 and homospermidine were present as the major quinine and polyamine, respectively. Thus, it is proposed that the three strains represent a new genus and species of the family Sphingomonadaceae with the name Sphingosinicella microcystinivorans gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain is Y2T (= KCTC 12019T = JCM 13185T).

Cellular polyamines of the newly additional 19 species belonging to the class Bacteroides of the phylum Bacteroidetes were analyzed by HPLC to display polyamine distribution as a chemotaxonomic marker within the total 41 species. Three profiles, the presence of spermidine, the presence of homospermidine and the absence of both triamines, corresponded to their phylogenetical positions within the four families of the class. The occurrence of an aromatic amine, 2-phenylethylamine, extracted into cellular polyamine fraction, was also determined within the 121 species distributed within the phylum. This aromatic amine was found in Cellulophaga lytica, Cytophaga latercula, Tenacibaculum amylolyticum, Tenacibaculum martimum, Tenacibaculum mesophilum and Psychroflexus torquis belonging to the family Flavobacteriaceae of the class Flavobacteria, and Flexibacter flexilis and Microscilla marina belonging to the family Flexibacteraceae of the class Sphingobacteria.

Polyamines extracted from whole bodies of four springtails, Tomocerus ishibashii , Hypogastrura communis , Sinella cruviseta and Folsomia candida , a bristletail, Pedetontus nipponicus , and two silverfish, Lepisma saccharina and Thermobia domestica , were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. All seven apterous insect species contained putrescine, cadaverine and spermidine as the common major polyamines, detected at the level of μmol/g wet mass. T. ishibashii also contained spermine, S. cruviseta contained norspermidine and norspermine and H. communis , F. candida and P. nipponicus contained diaminopropane, norspermidine and norspermine, as minor polyamines above the detection limit (0.01 μmol/g wet mass). The occurrence of diaminopropane, norspermidine, norspermine, spermine and thermospermine was confirmed in L. saccharina and T. domestica . The novel polyamines norspermidine, norspermine and thermospermine, widespread in higher insects, were also distributed within the primitive apterygotan insects.

Phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences by distance matrix and parsimony methods indicated that the currently known species of the genus Sphingomonas can be divided into four clusters. Some chemotaxonomic and phenotypic differences were noted among these clusters. Three new genera, Sphingobium, Novosphingobium and Sphingopyxis, are proposed in addition to the genus Sphingomonas sensu stricto. The genus Sphingobium is proposed to accommodate Sphingomonas chlorophenolica, Sphingomonas herbicidovorans and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae. The genus Novosphingobium is proposed for Sphingomonas aromaticivorans, Sphingomonas capsulata, Sphingomonas rosa, Sphingomonas stygia, Sphingomonas subarctica and Sphingomonas subterranea. Sphingomonas macrogoltabidus and Sphingomonas terrae are reclassified in the genus Sphingopyxis. The type species of Sphingobium, Novosphingobium and Sphingopyxis are Sphingobium yanoikuyae, Novosphingobium capsulatum and Sphingopyxis macrogoltabida, respectively.

Acid-extractable cellular polyamines of thermophilic Caldisericum exile belonging to a new bacterial phylum, Caldiserica were analyzed by HPLC and GC. The coexistence of an unusual tertiary brancehed tetra-amine, N4-aminopropylspermidine with spermine, a linear tetra-amine, as the major polyamines in addition to putrescine and spermidine, is first reported in the moderate thermophile isolated from a terrestrial hot spring in Japan. Linear and branched penta-amines were not detected. The novel cellular polyamine profile found in the moderate thermophile has never been observed within various bacteria and archaea previously analyzed.

Four aquatic plants were tested for the occurrence of unusual polyamines by high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. The whole plants ubiquitously contained norspermidine, homospermidine, norspermine, and thermospermine in addition to usual polyamines such as diaminopropane, putrescine, spermidine, and spermine. Pistia stratiotes L. and Potamogeton distinctus A. Bennett contained aminopropylhomospermidine. Caldopentamine was detected in the former plant. Homospermine was found in Ranuculus aquatilis L. Two tertiary branched tetraamines, N4-aminopropylnorspermidine and N4-aminopropylspermidine, were detected in Potamogeton distinctus and Sagittaria trifolia L.Key words: aquatic plant, polyamine, tertiary branched tetraamine.

Polyamines are intrinsic polycations which play critical roles in cell proliferation. Ornithine decarbolylase (ODC) catalyzes the first step of polyamine biosynthesis converting ornithine to putrescine. In addition to polyamine degradation, spermidine/spermine acetyltransferase (SSAT) regulates interconversion pathway of spermine and spermidine to putrescine. We quantified the polyamines and mRNAs of ODC and SSAT in HeLa S3 cells at various stages during exponential and plateau phases of culturing. Unexpectedly, putrescine and SSAT mRNA levels increased remarkably at the plateau phase, in contrast to the decrease of ODC mRNA level. It will be suggested that the putrescine has a novel function linked to the arrest of cell growth in which the SSAT-mediated pathway producing putrescine takes part.

Four aquatic plants were tested for the occurrence of unusual polyamines. The leaves of the aquatic plants tested ubiquitously contained homospermidine in addition to usual polyamines such as diaminopropane, putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, spermine, and agmatine. Brasenia schreberi and Nuphar japonicum belonging to the family Nymphaeaceae contained aminopropylhomospermidine. Norspermidine and norspermine were detected in the blackweed Hydrilla verticillata belonging to Hydrocharitaceae. Thermospermine was detected in Brasenia schreberi. A novel tetraamine, N,N'-bis(3-aminopropyl)-1,2-ethanediamine (NH2(CH2)3NH(CH2)2NH(CH2)3NH2), was discovered in the aquatic plant Nuphar japonicum. This is the first report of the occurrence of N4-methylspermidine (NH2(CH2)3N(CH3)(CH2)4NH2) in the water chestnut Trapa natas belonging to the family Hydrocaryaceae. Key words: aquatic plants, polyamine, bis(aminopropyl)ethandiamine, methylspermidine.

Cardiac polyamines are thought to protect the myocardium against harmful stimuli and to be regulated by sympathetic nerve activation. In the present study, polyamines concentrations in non-infarcted myocardium were investigated. Myocardial polyamines contents decreased significantly in the non-infarcted regions by day 3 in rats with myocardial infarction compared with sham-operated rats and with the untreated control rats. The cardiac catecholamine concentration decreased by day 1 after myocardial infarction. Myocardial ornithine decarboxylase activity also decreased in the non-infarcted regions; suggesting that the decrease in cardiac polyamines contents relate to an insufficiency of the ornithine decarboxylase activity in rats with myocardial infarction. These results suggest that the decrease in polyamines concentrations after myocardial infarction is associated with functional sympathetic nerve denervation and that the vulnerability of the heart after myocardial infarction may be due to a decrease in polyamine concentrations in the non-infarcted region.

Phylogenetically, Cytophaga aprica and Cytophaga diffluens occupy independent positions in the flavobacter-bacteroides phylum. Both of these organisms are gram-negative rods that are motile by gliding, chemoorganotrophic, and aerobic, degrade several kinds of biomacromolecules, and inhabit marine environments. Their major isoprenoid quinone is menaquinone 7. The G+C content of the DNA of C. aprica is 35 to 37 mol%, and the G+C content of the DNA of C. diffluens is 40 to 42 mol%. In addition to constituting an independent phylogenetic lineage, each species has a distinctive cellular polyamine constitution. C. aprica is characterized by possessing cadaverine as its major polyamine, and C. diffluens is characterized by possessing spermidine, in contrast to most species of the genera Cytophaga, Flavobacterium, and Flexibacter and related organisms, which possess homospermidine. Transfer of C. aprica to the genus Flammeovirga gen. nov. as Flammeovirga aprica comb. nov. and transfer of C. diffluens to the genus Persicobacter gen. nov. as Persicobacter diffluens comb. nov. are proposed.

The taxonomic positions of 10 strains of 3-ketolactose-forming bacteria which were isolated from the roots of plants (Rosa sp., Psychotria nairobiensis, Ardisia crispa, Prunus persica, and apple trees) were investigated. The DNA base compositions of these strains ranged from 64.0 to 65.7 mol%, the isoprenoid quinone of each strain was ubiquinone 10, 3-hydroxy fatty acids were lacking in the cellular fatty acids of these organisms, and all of the strains contained a sphingolipid with the long-chain base dihydrosphingosin. These are characteristics of the genus Sphingomonas. On the basis of morphological, physiological, and chemotaxonomic characteristics, together with DNA-DNA hybridization and 16S ribosomal DNA sequence comparison data, we propose the following four new species of the genus Sphingomonas: Sphingomonas rosa (type strain, IFO 15208) for the strains isolated from rose plants and formerly named [Agrobacterium rhizogenes]; Sphingomonas pruni (type strain, IFO 15498) for the strains isolated from Prunus persica; and Sphingomonas asaccharolytica (type strain, IFO 15499) and Sphingomonas mali (type strain, IFO 15500) for the strains isolated from apple trees. Two strains which were isolated from Psychotria nairobiensis and formerly named [Chromobacterium lividum] were identified as Sphingomonas yanoikuyae strains.

Cellular polyamines of various aerobic Gram-positive cocci and some radio-resistant eubacteria were analyzed. Staphylococcus and Micrococcus species except for some spermidine-containing or cadaverine-containing strains were lacking in polyamines. Planococcus species ubiquitously contained putrescine, spermidine and agmatine. Marinococcus were divided into two groups, one of which contains no polyamine and another putrescine, spermidine and agmatine. Polyamines were not detected in Pediococcus, Tetragenococcus, Aerococcus, Alloiococcus, Helcococcus and Kineococcus species. Spermidine was found in Stomatococcus mucilaginosus and Salinicoccus hispanicus while no polyamine was detected in Salinicoccus roseus. Sporosarcina halophila and Sporosarcina ureae ubiquitously contained spermidine, however, agmatine was found in the former and spermine in the latter. Polyamine profiles were heterogeneous within aerobic Gram-positive cocci, though each profile was specific for the genera. Different polyamine patterns found in the genera Marinococcus, Salinicoccus and Sporosarcina suggest the heterogeneity of these genera. Radio-resistant Rubrobacter radiotolerans was devoid of polyamines, whereas spermidine was detected in radio-resistant Deinobacter grandis as well as radio-tolerant Deinococcus species.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile, orange-pigmented, slightly halophilic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain JAMH 0132T, was isolated from the trophosome of a tubeworm in Kagoshima Bay, Japan, and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic approach. The novel strain grew optimally at 28–30 °C and with about 2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Chemotaxonomic analysis showed that Q-10 was the predominant respiratory quinone and that C18 : 1ω7c, C16 : 0 2-OH and C16 : 0 were the major fatty acids. Sphingoglycolipid, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylcholine were the major polar lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 60.1 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain JAMH 0132T belonged to the family Sphingomonadaceae , within the class Alphaproteobacteria . The novel strain appeared most closely related to Sphingopyxis baekryungensis SW-150T (95.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) and showed less sequence similarity with representatives of the genera Blastomonas , Sphingomonas , Sphingosinicella and Novosphingobium (T differed from members of all genera currently in the family Sphingomonadaceae . On the basis of its phenotypic properties and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain JAMH 0132T represents a novel species of a new genus in the family Sphingomonadaceae for which the name Parasphingopyxis lamellibrachiae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Parasphingopyxis lamellibrachiae gen. nov., sp. nov. is JAMH 0132T ( = JCM 15549T = NCIMB 14486T).

Two unusual amines corresponding to γ(3)-hydroxyagmatine and 2-hydroxyputrescine were detected in the mature seeds of vetch Vicia sativa, pea Pisum sativum, wisteria Wisteria floribunda, and red clover Trifolium pratense. These two amines were resistant to both acid hydrolysis and reduction with palladium – barium sulfate but were cleaved by periodate oxidation. The latter amine assigned as 2-hydroxyputrescine was produced by alkaline hydrolysis of the former amine, γ-hydroxyagmatine. This was metabolized by agmatine oxidase. Putrescine, cadaverine, and (or) agmatine levels increased, but the levels of the two hydroxyamines as well as methylagmatine remained unchanged during germination of 23 leguminous seeds. Key words: legume, seed, polyamine, hydroxy agmatine, hydroxyputrescine.

Polyamines of various genera of the class Proteobacteria were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography to determine if they can serve as taxonomic markers. The major polyamine of Zymomonas was homospermidine, whereas the Acetobacter–Gluconobacter complex contained spermidine, suggesting the presence of two different polyamine distribution patterns in the alpha subclass. Both the homospermidine-dominant type and the spermidine-dominant type were found in heterogeneous Sphingomonas species. Typical species belonging to the gamma subclass have their own unique polyamine pattern in Xanthomonas (spermidine), Azomonas (putrescine), Frateuria (spermidine), Alteromonas (putrescine–spermidine or spermidine), Shewanella (putrescine), Marinomonas (putrescine–spermidine or spermidine), Halomonas (putrescine–spermidine or spermidine), and Deleya (spermidine). Cadaverine was sporadically distributed in some species in these genera. Some strains classified into Rhizobacter, Zoogloea, Azomonas, or Alteromonas contained 2-hydroxyputrescine found exclusively in the beta subclass. Polyamine distribution patterns are genus- and (or) species-specific and can serve as a phenotypic marker in the chemotaxonomy of the Proteobacteria.Key words: polyamine, chemotaxonomy, Proteobacteria.

Polyamines of 18 leguminous mature seeds were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. Putrescine, spermidine, and spermine occurred ubiquitously and cadaverine, agmatine, and homospermidine were sporadically found in these seeds. Six unusual polyamines, i.e., canavalmine [NH2(CH2)4NH(CH2)3NH(CH2)4NH2], homospermine [NH2(CH2)4NH(CH2)4NH(CH2)4NH2], aminopropylcanavalmine [NH2(CH2)3NH(CH2)4NH(CH2)3NH(CH2)4NH2], thermospermine [NH2(CH2)3NH(CH2)3NH(CH2)4NH2], and aminopropylhomospermidine [NH2(CH2)3NH(CH2)4NH(CH2)4NH2] were found in the seeds of Pisum sativum. Thermospermine and aminopropylhomospermidine were also detected in the seeds of Vicia hirsuta and Trifolium pratense, respectively. An unusual tetraamine, norspermine [NH2(CH2)3NH(CH2)3NH(CH2)3NH2], was found in the seeds of Medicago sativa and Vicia faba. The seeds of Phaseolus coccineus contained homospermine and a tertiary branched pentaamine, N5-aminobutylhomospermine [NH2(CH2)4N((CH2)4NH2)(CH2)4NH(CH2)4NH2]. Key words: poly amine, legume, seed.

Polyamines of thermophilic Gram-negative eubacteria, "Rhodothermus marinus" ATCC 43812, Thermus sp. ATCC 43814 and Thermonema lapsum ATCC 43542 were analyzed by high-perfomance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. "R. marinus" contained spermidine, spermine, thermopentamine, a tertiary tetraamine (N4-aminopropylspermidine) and a quaternary pentaamine (N4-bis(aminopropyl) spermidine). Thermus sp. ATCC 43814 contained putrescine, cadaverine, norspermidine, spermidine, homospermidine, norspermine, spermine, thermospermine, aminopropylhomospermidine, caldopentamine, agmatine, two tertiary tetraamines (N4-aminopropylnorspermidine and N4-aminopropylspermidine) and two quaternary pentaamines (N4-bis(aminopropyl)norspermidine and N4-bis(aminopropyl)spermidine). Homospermidine and homospermine were detected in Thermonema lapsum as the major polyamine. These distribution patterns of long and branched polyamines are distinctive in the thermophiles, indicating that unusual polyamine profiles serve to estimate chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic relationships within thermophilic eubacteria.

Five Paracoccus species, P. denitrificans, P. alcaliphilus, P. aminophilus, P. aminovorans and P. kocurii, ubiquitously contained putrescine and spermidine as major polyamines. Spermine and cadaverine were detected sporadically in some strains as a minor component. All the strains of these species produced norspermidine from diaminopropane supplemented into the medium and some strains produced two aminopropyl derivatives of cadaverine, i.e., aminopropylcadaverine and aminopentylnorspermidine. The biosynthetic ability of these unusual polyamines serves as a chemotaxonomic marker in the genus Paracoccus. P. denitrificans IFO 13301 decarboxylated e-N-methyllysine as well as lysine but neither e-N-acetyllysine nor δ-hydroxylysine. The orgranism formed 2-hydroxyspermidine from the supplemented 2-hydroxyputrescine as well as 2-hydroxynorspermidine from 2-hydroxydiaminopropane but not N-acetyispermidine and N-methylspermidine from N-acetylputrescine and N-methylputrescine, respectively. A halophilic species, P. halodenitrificans, which contains spermidine as the major polyamine and has no norspermidine- and aminopropylcadaverine-synthetic potential, was suggested not to be a valid member of the genus Paracoccus.

Two isolates, AC04(T) and AC05, were isolated from the flowers of red ginger collected in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the two isolates were included within a lineage comprised of the genera Acidomonas, Gluconacetobacter, Asaia, Kozakia, Swaminathania, Neoasaia, Granulibacter, and Tanticharoenia, and they formed an independent cluster along with the type strain of Tanticharoenia sakaeratensis. The calculated pair-wise sequence similarities of isolate AC04(T) were 97.8-92.5% to the type strains of the type species of the 11 genera of acetic acid bacteria. The DNA base composition was 66.0-66.1 mol % G+C with a range of 0.1 mol %. A single-stranded, labeled DNA from isolate AC04(T) presented levels of DNA-DNA hybridization of 100, 85, 4, and 3% respectively to DNAs from isolates AC04(T) and AC05 and the type strains of Tanticharoenia sakaeratensis and Gluconacetobacter liquefaciens. The two isolates were unique morphologically in polar flagellation and physiologically in intense acetate oxidation to carbon dioxide and water and weak lactate oxidation. The intensity in acetate oxidation almost equaled that of the type strain of Acetobacter aceti. The two isolates had Q-10. Isolate AC04(T) was discriminated from the type strains of the type species of the 11 genera by 16S rRNA gene restriction analysis using restriction endonucleases TaqI and Hin6I. The unique phylogenetic, genetic, morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics obtained indicate that the two isolates can be classified into a separate genus, and Ameyamaea chiangmaiensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is isolate AC04(T) (=BCC 15744(T), =NBRC 103196(T)), which has a DNA G+C content of 66.0 mol %.

Previously we reported that administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to mice increased the hepatic levels of putrescine (PUT) and N1-acetylspermidine (N1-acetyl-SPD). In the current study, we examined the in vivo effects of some steroid hormones on the LPS-induced increase in PUT and N1-acetyl-SPD. Corticosterone, hydrocortisone and dexamethasone suppressed the LPS-induced increase in PUT and N1-acetyl-SPD in mouse liver in a dose-dependent manner, dexamethasone being the most effective among them. On the other hand, oestrone and oestradiol-17 beta enhanced the LPS-induced increase in PUT and N1-acetyl-SPD in a dose-dependent manner. Oestradiol-17 alpha and 16 beta-ethyl-oestradiol, as an inactive oestradiol isomer and an antioestrogen, respectively, likewise enhanced the increase in PUT and N1-acetyl-SPD concentrations induced by LPS. 16 alpha-hydroxy-oestradiol (oestriol), 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone, 2-hydroxyoestradiol, 2-hydroxyoesterone, progesterone, testosterone, diethylstilboestrol and nonsteroidal antioestrogens such as tamoxifen and nafoxidine had no effect on the increase. Oestradiol-17 beta enhanced and corticosterone had little effect on the carbon tetrachloride-induced increase in PUT and N1-acetyl-SPD. These results suggest that glucocorticoids suppress the increase by preventing the immunological injury by Kupffer cells on hepatocytes and that the stimulatory effect of oestrogens may not be associated with their oestrogenic activities mediated by the oestrogen receptor system.

Polyamine synthetic activity was compared among the three eubacteria Halococcus acetoinfaciens (IAM 12094), Halococcus agglomeratus (IAM 12095), and Halococcus nondenitrificans (IAM 12096). Putrescine was produced by decarboxylation of ornithine but not from agmatine in the three species. N-Carbamylputrescine was converted to putrescine in the latter two species. Lysine decarboxylase activity was found only in H. acetoinfaciens, which contains aminopropylcadaverine, aminopentylnorspermidine, and N,N′-bis(3-aminopropyl)cadaverine in addition to spermidine, spermine, and thermospermine. In H. acetoinfaciens when diaminopropane was added to the culture medium, both norspermidine and norspermine were synthesized; when homospermidine was added, aminopropylhomospermidine was formed. In contrast H. agglomeratus and H. nondenitrificans synthesize putrescine, spermidine, and trace amounts of spermine but cannot synthesize other triamines and tetraamines from diamines and triamines supplemented to the culture medium. Key words: Halococcus, decarboxylase, polyamines, aminopropyltransferase, inhibitors, aminopropylcadaverine.

Triamines such as norspermidine, spermidine, and homospermidine and tetraamines such as norspermine, spermine, thermospermine, and aminopropylhomospermidine were found to be distributed ubiquitously in the eight extremely thermophilic (growing at 70 degrees C) Thermus species tested. Three linear pentaamine (caldopentamine, homocaldopentamine, and thermopentamine), two linear hexaamines (caldohexamine and homocaldohexamine), two tertiary branched tetraamines (N4-aminopropylnorspermidine and N4-aminopropyl-spermidine), and quaternary branched pentaamines such as N4-bis(aminopropyl)norspermidine and N4-bis(aminopropyl)spermidine were detected in T. thermophilus HB8, T. filiformis Wai33 A1, T. flavus AT-62, and T. caldophilus GK24. The linear hexaamines and branched polyamines were absent in T. aquaticus YT-1, T. sp. X-1, T. sp. T2, and T. sp. T351, in which linear pentaamines were minor components. Moderately thermophilic Thermus ruber and Thermus sp. K-2 contained putrescine, spermidine, norspermidine, homospermidine, spermine, norspermine, thermospermine, and aminopropylhomospermidine. No pentaamines, hexaamines, or branched polyamines were found in these two moderately thermophilic Thermus species. On the other hand, moderately thermophilic, acidophilic Acidothermus cellulolyticus was devoid of all the polyamines.

We found new pentaamines, hexaamines and heptaamines which are aminobutyl derivative of homospermine (PA 444), in addition to four tetraamines, spermine (PA 343), thermospermine (PA 334), aminopropylhomospermidine (PA 344) and homospermine, in extracts of the mature seeds of the vetch Vicia sativa by HPLC and GC. Two linear polyamines were identified as homopentamine [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH 2 ] (PA 4444) and homohexamine [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH 2 ] (PA 44444) by GC-mass analysis. Another eight tertiary branched polyamines were identified as N 5 -aminobutylhomospermine [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH 2 ][PA 4(4)44], N 5 -aminobutylhomopentamine [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 N-(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH 2 ](PA 4(4)444), N 10 -aminobutylhomopentamine[NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 -NH(CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH 2 ] [PA 44(4)44], N 5 , N 10 -bis(aminobutyl)homospermine [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 NH 2 ] [PA 4(4)4(4)4)], N 5 -aminobutylhomohexamine [NH 2 -(CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH 2 ] [PA 4(4)4444], N 10 -aminobutylhomohexamine [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH2] [PA44(4)444], N 5 , N 10 -bis(aminobutyl)-homopentamine [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 NH 2 ] [PA 4(4)4(4)44] and N 5 , N 15 -bis(aminobutyl)homopentamine [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 ) (CH 2 ) 4 NH(CH 2 ) 4 N(NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 )(CH 2 ) 4 )NH 2 ] [PA 4(4)44(4)4].

1. 1. Polyamines were extracted from the guts and ovaries of the sea urchin Anthocidoris crassispina, and the guts and flesh of the sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus and the sea squirt Halocynthia roretzi, the oyster Crassostrea gigas and the short-necked clam Tapes philippinarum, and analyzed by ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. 2. 2. Norspermidine and norspermine as well as putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, spermine and agmatine were the ubiquitous polyamines in these invertebrates. These results suggest the widespread distribution of norspermidine and norspermine in invertebrates. 3. 3. Thermopentamine, thermohexamine and homothermohexamine were found in the sea urchin. This in the first report on the occurence of thermopentamine and hexaamine in invertebrates. 4. 4. Homospermidine, canavalmine, aminopropylhomospermidine, homospermine, caldopentamine, homocaldopentamine and aminopropylcanavalmine were found in the sea cucumber. Homospermidine, aminopropylhomospermidine and homospermine were found in the squirt. This is the first report on the occurence of canavalmine, aminopropylhomospermidine, homospermine, homocaldopentamine and aminopropylcanavalmine in invertebrates.

A slightly thermophilic hydrogen bacterium, "Pseudomonas hydrogenothermophila, " was found to contain 2-hydroxyputrescine, 2-hydroxyspermidine, diaminopropane, putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, aminopropylcadaverine and spermine. A mesophilic hydrogen-oxidizing pseudomonad, "Pseudomonas hydrogenovora" contained putrescine, 2-hydroxyputrescine, and spermidine. The polyamine distribution pattern of the latter is rather common in the beta subclass of Proteobacteria. The occurrence of 2-hydroxyspermidine, aminopropylcadaverine and spermine is unique in the thermophile.

1. 1. Diaminopropane, putrescine, norspermidine, spesrmidine, norspermine and spermine were commonly found in the larval silk gland and head of Bombyx mori, Antheraea yamamai and Galleria mellonella . 2. 2. The cockroach Periplaneta americana contained thermospermine, caldopentamine, caldohexamine, homospermidine, aminopropylhomospermidine and aminobutylhomospermidine (homospermine) in addition to the common polyamines. This is the first report to show the occurrence of the homospermidine derivatives and a hexamine in insects. 3. 3. In addition to thermospermine, caldopentamine, agmatine, histamine, cadaverine and other usual polyamines, three cadaverine-derivatives, aminopropylcadaverine, bis(aminopropyl)cadaverine and aminopentylnorspermidine, were detected in the silk gland and head of the spiders, Nephila clavata and Araneus ventricosus . The occurrence of aminopropyl derivatives of of cadaverine has never been reported in animals.