Reaction: L-alanine + vanillin = pyruvate + vanillylamine
Other name(s): VAMT (gene name)
Systematic name: L-alanine:vanillin aminotransferase
Comments: The enzyme participates in the biosynthesis of capsaicinoids in pungent cultivars of Capsicum sp. In vivo it has only been assayed in the reverse direction, where the preferred amino group acceptors were found to be pyruvate and oxaloacetate.
Links to other databases: BRENDA, EXPASY, KEGG, MetaCyc, CAS registry number:
References:
1. Curry, J., Aluru, M., Mendoza, M., Nevarez, J., Melendrez, M. and O'Connell, M.A. Transcripts for possible capsaicinoid biosynthetic genes are differentially accumulated in pungent and non-pungent Capsicum spp. Plant Sci. 148 (1999) 47-57.
2. del Rosario Abraham-Juarez, M., del Carmen Rocha-Granados, M., Lopez, M.G., Rivera-Bustamante, R.F. and Ochoa-Alejo, N. Virus-induced silencing of Comt, pAmt and Kas genes results in a reduction of capsaicinoid accumulation in chili pepper fruits. Planta 227 (2008) 681-695. [PMID: 17999078]
3. Lang, Y., Kisaka, H., Sugiyama, R., Nomura, K., Morita, A., Watanabe, T., Tanaka, Y., Yazawa, S. and Miwa, T. Functional loss of pAMT results in biosynthesis of capsinoids, capsaicinoid analogs, in Capsicum annuum cv. CH-19 Sweet. Plant J. 59 (2009) 953-961. [PMID: 19473323]
4. Gururaj, H.B., Padma, M.N., Giridhar, P. and Ravishankar, G.A. Functional validation of Capsicum frutescens aminotransferase gene involved in vanillylamine biosynthesis using Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation studies in Nicotiana tabacum and Capsicum frutescens calli cultures. Plant Sci. 195 (2012) 96-105. [PMID: 22921003]
5. Weber, N., Ismail, A., Gorwa-Grauslund, M. and Carlquist, M. Biocatalytic potential of vanillin aminotransferase from Capsicum chinense. BMC Biotechnol 14 (2014) 25. [PMID: 24712445]