BIOSYNTHESIS OF ACETYLENIC-COMPOUNDS IN CULTURED-CELLS OF ASPARAGUS-OFFICINALIS FROM [1-C-13]GLUCOSE AND [U-C-13]GLUCOSE

The biosynthetic pathway of phenolics with an acetylenic group, 4-[5-( 4-methoxyphenoxy)-3-penten-1-ynyl]phenol (1) and its related compounds , isolated from suspension-cultured cells of Asparagus officinalis L. (Liliaceae), was studied in feeding experiments using [1-C-13]- and [U -C-13]glucose. Analyses of the C-13-NMR spectra of the methyl ether an d acetate of the C-13-labelled species of 1 indicated that the aromati c rings at both ends of the molecule are formed from shikimic acid. It was also assumed that the acetylenic carbons in the C-5 chain could b e incorporated together with its adjacent aromatic ring through any ph enethyl class compound derived from phenylpropanoids, and the propenyl ene carbon through glycolysis metabolites with C-3 carbon units,