Further Studies on Oxalic Acid Biosynthesis in Oxalate-accumulating Plants

Abstract

l-Ascorbic acid functions as a precursor of oxalic acid in several oxalate-accumulating plants. The present study extends this observation to include Rumex crispus L. (curly dock), Amaranthus retroflexus L. (red root pigweed), Chenopodium album L. (lamb's-quarters), Beta vulgaris L. (sugar beet), Halogeton glomeratus M. Bieb. (halogeton), and Rheum rhabarbarum L. (rhubarb). Several species with low oxalate content are also examined.When l-[1-(14)C]ascorbic acid is supplied to young seedlings of R. crispus or H. glomeratus, a major portion of the (14)C is released over a 24-hour period as (14)CO(2) and only a small portion is recovered as [(14)C]oxalate, unlike cuttings from 2- or 4-month-old plants which retain a large part of the (14)C as [(14)C]oxalic acid and release very little (14)CO(2). Support for an intermediate role of oxalate in the release of (14)CO(2) from l-[1-(14)C]ascorbic acid is seen in the rapid release of (14)CO(2) by R. crispus and H. glomeratus seedlings labeled with [(14)C]oxalic acid.The common origin of oxalic acid carbon in the C1 and C2 fragment from l-ascorbic acid is demonstrated by comparison of (14)C content of oxalic acid in several oxalate-accumulators after cuttings or seedlings are supplied equal amounts of l-[1-(14)C]- or l-[UL-(14)C]ascorbic acid. Theoretically, l-[1-(14)C]ascorbic acid will produce labeled oxalic acid containing three times as much (14)C as l-[UL-(14)C]ascorbic acid when equal amounts of label are provided. Experimentally, a ratio of 2.7 +/- 0.5 is obtained in duplicate experiments with six different species.