Distribution of dipeptides containing d-alanine and characteristics of the formation ability of these dipeptides in japonica type rice plant

Abstract

Although most of the amino acids in living organisms consist of L-forms, some D-amino acids are well known as the constituents of peptidoglycan in bacterial cell walls and peptide antibiotics produced by microorganisms (Soda 1977). D-Amino acids are present not only in microorganisms but. also in higher plants. For example, large amounts of D-alanine (D-Ala) were detected in the form of dipeptides in pea seedings (Fukuda et al. 1973) and rice leaf blades (Yamauchi et al. 1979; Manabe et al. 1981). However, their role in these plants is not known.

Key Words:

• D-alanyl-D-alanine
• D-alanyl-L-alanine
• D-alanylglycine
• Japonica type rice plant