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Biochemical Properties of Unusual Polyamines Found in an Extreme Thermophile, Thermus thermophilus

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Progress in Polyamine Research

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 250))

Abstract

An extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus was isolated from a Japanese hot spring (Oshima and Imahori, 1974) which can grow in a temperature range of 50 °C to 85 °C. This unique microorganism produces a variety of polyamines. So far thirteen polyamines and two diamines have been detected; their trivial names and chemical structures are listed in Table 1. Most of these polyamines have been extracted from the thermophile, purified and identified by NMR, mass, and IR spectra. Their identification was finally confirmed by chemical synthesis (Oshima, 1983A). Unusually long polyamines and branched polyamines produced by the thermophile may play important roles in the thermophile cells and may exhibit unique activities in biochemical reactions in vitro.

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© 1988 Plenum Press, New York

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Oshima, T., Hamasaki, N., Uzawa, T. (1988). Biochemical Properties of Unusual Polyamines Found in an Extreme Thermophile, Thermus thermophilus . In: Zappia, V., Pegg, A.E. (eds) Progress in Polyamine Research. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 250. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5637-0_56

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5637-0_56

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-5639-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-5637-0

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