γ-Glutamylmethylamide

An unusual amino acid, γ-glutamylmethylamide, has been found to be an early product of the metabolism of methylamine by Pseudomonas MS. This compound is also synthesized by cell-free extracts of this organism in a reaction which requires ATP and Mn++. The enzyme responsible for the synthesis of γ-glutamylmethylamide is induced by growth on methylamine, dimethylamine, or trimethylamine, but not by growth on glucose, peptone, or trimethylsulfonium nitrate. This suggests that a new enzyme, similar in activity to glutamine synthetase, but having a high specificity for methylamine, is responsible for the synthesis of γ-glutamylmethylamide in Pseudomonas MS. The trivial name γ-glutamylmethylamide synthetase is suggested for this enzyme.