Metabolism of methanol in plant cells. Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance studies.

Using 13 C-NMR, we demonstrate that [ 13 C]methanol readily entered sycamore ( Acer pseudoplatanus L.) cells to be slowly metabolized to [3- 13 C]serine, [ 13 CH 3 ]methionine, and [ 13 CH 3 ]phosphatidylcholine. We conclude that the assimilation of [ 13 C]methanol occurs through the formation of 13 CH 3 H 4 Pte-glutamate (Glu) n and S -adenosyl-methionine, because feeding plant cells with [3- 13 CH 3 ]serine, the direct precursor of 13 CH 2 H 4 Pte-Glu n , can perfectly mimic [ 13 CH 3 ]methanol for folate-mediated single-carbon metabolism. On the other hand, the metabolism of [ 13 C]methanol in plant cells revealed assimilation of label into a new cellular product that was identified as [ 13 CH 3 ]methyl-β-d-glucopyranoside. The de novo synthesis of methyl-β-d-glucopyranoside induced by methanol did not require the formation of 13 CH 3 H 4 Pte-Glu n and was very likely catalyzed by a “transglycosylation” process.