C. H. FAWCETT 

 R. L. WAIN 

 F. WIGHTMAN^ 



Wye College, University of London 



Chromatographic InvestLgations on the 

 Metabolism, of Certain Indole Acids and Their 

 Amides, Nitriles, and Methyl Esters in Wheat 



and Pea Tissues'" 



Research at Wye has been concerned for several years with the metab- 

 olism in various plant tissues of homologous series of chloro- and 

 methyl-substituted phenoxyalkanecarboxylic acids (4, 5, 9). Chemical 

 and biological evidence has been obtained that the side-chain of such 

 co-substituted fatty acids can be degraded by (3-oxidation, and although 

 the capacity to effect this breakdown is common to many plants, spec- 

 ificity has been observed in some species to the members of certain 

 series. In this connection, the results indicate that the number and 

 orientation of the nuclear substituents affect the ease with which ^- 

 oxidation occurs at the shorter side-chain lengths, and these findings 

 provide an explanation for the different patterns of growth-regulat- 

 ing activity shown by the many homologous series examined. 



In a related study the growth-regulating activity and metabolism 

 in wheat and pea tissues of the first six members of the homologous 

 series of co-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)alkanecarboxylic acids and their cor- 

 responding amides and nitriles were investigated (6,7) . The pattern 

 of activity shown by the acid and amide series was found to be simi- 

 lar, and chromatographic examination of the treated tissues showed 

 that the amides, after hydrolysis to the corresponding acid, were de- 

 graded by (3-oxidation in a manner identical to that observed with 



^Subsequently: Prairie Regional Research Laboratory, Saskatoon, Saskatche- 

 wan, Canada. 

 ^This paper was read at the Conference by F. Wightman. 



[71] 



