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Putrescine is an organic compound with the formula (CH2)4(NH2)2. It is a colorless solid that melts near room temperature. It is classified as a diamine. Together with cadaverine, it is largely responsible for the foul odor of Putrefaction flesh, but also contributes to other unpleasant odors.
Biotechnological production of putrescine from a renewable feedstock has been investigated. A metabolically engineered strain of Escherichia coli that produces putrescine at high concentrations in glucose mineral salts medium has been described.
Putrescine is synthesized in small quantities by healthy living cells by the action of ornithine decarboxylase.
Putrescine is synthesized biologically via two different pathways, both starting from arginine.
Putrescine, via metabolic intermediates including N-acetylputrescine, γ-aminobutyraldehyde (GABAL), N-acetyl-γ-aminobutyric acid ( N-acetyl-GABAL), and N-acetyl-γ-aminobutyric acid ( N-acetyl-GABA), biotransformations mediated by diamine oxidase (DAO), monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B), aminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase (ABALDH), and other , can act as a minor biological precursor of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain and elsewhere. (2025). 9780123646170 ISBN 9780123646170 In 2021, it was discovered that MAO-B does not mediate dopamine catabolism in the rodent striatum but instead participates in striatal GABA synthesis and that synthesized GABA in turn inhibits dopaminergic in this brain area. It has been found that MAO-B, via the putrescine pathway, importantly mediates GABA synthesis in in various brain areas, including in the hippocampus, cerebellum, striatum, cerebral cortex, and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc).
Putrescine serves an important role in a multitude of ways, which include: a Ion substitute, an osmolyte, or a transport protein. It also serves as an important regulator in a variety of surface proteins, both on the cell surface and on organelles, such as the mitochondria and chloroplasts. A recorded increase of ATP production has been found in mitochondria and ATP synthesis by chloroplasts with an increase in mitochondrial and chloroplastic putrescine, but putrescine has also been shown to function as a developmental inhibitor in some plants, which can be seen as dwarfism and late flowering in Arabiadopsis plants.
Putrescine production in plants can also be promoted by fungi in the soil. Piriformospora indica ( P. indica) is one such fungus, found to promote putrescine production in Arabidopsis and common garden tomato plants. In a 2022 study it was shown that the presence of this fungus had a promotional effect on the growth of the root structure of plants. After gas chromatography testing, putrescine was found in higher amounts in these root structures.
Plants that had been inoculated with P. indica had presented an excess of arginine decarboxylase. This is used in the process of making putrescine in plant cells. One of the downstream effects of putrescine in root cells is the production of auxin. That same study found that putrescine added as a fertilizer showed the same results as if it was inoculated with the fungus, which was also shown in Arabidopsis and barley. The evolutionary foundations of this connection and putrescine are still unclear.
Putrescine is a component of bad breath and bacterial vaginosis. It is also found in semen and some microalgae, together with spermine and spermidine.
Application of putrescine, along with other polyamines, can be used to extend the shelf life of fruits by delaying the ripening process. Pre-harvest application of putrescine has been shown to increase plant resistance to high temperatures and drought. Both of these effects seem to result from lowered ethylene production following exogenous putrescine exposure.
Due to its role in putrification, putrescine has also been proposed as a biochemical marker for determining how long a corpse has been decomposing.
Putrescine together with chitosan has been successfully used in postharvest physiology as a natural fruit coating. Putrescine with chitosan treated fruits had higher antioxidant capacity and enzyme activities than untreated fruits. Fresh strawberry coated have lower decomposition percentage, higher tissue firmness, contents of total soluble solids. Nanoparticles of putrescine with chitosan are effective in preserving the nutritional quality and prolonging the post-harvest life of strawberries during storage up to 12 days.
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