agmatine, n. Biochem.
(ˈægmətiːn)
[ad. Ger. Agmatin (coined by A. Kosselin 1910, in Zeitschr. für Physiol. Chem. LXVI. 257), prob. f. A(mino- amino- + G(uanidin guanidine n. + Ptomain ptomaine n.]
An amine produced by the decarboxylation of arginine during the degradation of proteins; aminobutylguanidine, H2N·(CH2)4·NH·C(NH)·NH2 .
| 1919 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. XLI. 681 Agmantine [sic] picrate crystallized out first upon fractionally crystallizing the lysine picrate fraction. 1972 Jrnl. Bacteriol. CIX. 44/1 In recent years evidence has accumulated that agmatine can replace arginine as an energy source for the growth of certain strains of S. faecalis. 1986 M. Kogut tr. Schlegel's Gen. Microbiol. xiv. 434 The best known of these bases (formerly called ptomaines) are cadaverine, putrescine, and agmatine. |