Synthesis of putrescine under possible primitive Earth conditions.

The synthesis of putrescine was accomplished by decarboxylation of L-ornithine when this amino acid was heated in aqueous solution and in the absence of oxygen. Chromatographic, radioisotopic, and enzymatic techniques were used to demonstrate that one mole of non-radioactive putrescine and one mole of 14CO2 was formed during the heating of L-(l-14C)-ornithine. This work indicates that the synthesis of putrescine can occur starting with ornithine and in conditions that are presumed could have existed on the primitive Earth. The possible significance of these results in the prebiotic molecular evolution is briefly discussed.