Putrescine and spermidine control degradation and synthesis of ornithine decarboxylase in Neurospora crassa.

Neurospora crassa mycelia, when starved for polyamines, have 50-70-fold more ornithine decarboxylase activity and enzyme protein than unstarved mycelia. Using isotopic labeling and immunoprecipitation, we determined the half-life and the synthetic rate of the enzyme in mycelia differing in the rates of synthesis of putrescine, the product of ornithine decarboxylase, and spermidine, the main end-product of the polyamine pathway. When the pathway was blocked between putrescine and spermidine, ornithine decarboxylase synthesis rose 4-5-fold, regardless of the accumulation of putrescine. This indicates that spermidine is a specific signal for the repression of enzyme synthesis. When both putrescine and spermidine synthesis were reduced, the half-life of the enzyme rapidly increased 10-fold. The presence of either putrescine or spermidine restored the normal enzyme half-life of 55 min. Tests for an ornithine decarboxylase inhibitory protein ("antizyme") were negative. The regulatory mechanisms activated by putrescine and spermidine account for most or all of the regulatory amplitude of this enzyme in N. crassa.