Proline metabolism in pollen: degradation of proline during germination and early tube growth.

Proline degradation inPetunia pollen germinated in vitro was studied in cultures supplemented with [(14)C]proline labeled at different positions. Despite its abundance in the cell, this amino acid is only a minor substrate for respiration. Proline is partially converted via the citrate cycle into metabolites which can be traced in the ethanol-insoluble fraction of the cellular constituents. The fact that this conversion is much more extensive than the use of proline in respiration indicates that, in germinating pollen, the citrate cycle serves mainly for synthetic purposes. There are no indications that proline carbon is used for feeding of other amino-acid pools used for protein synthesis.