Product identification and adenylyl cyclase activity in chloroplasts of Nicotiana tabacum.

In view of the ongoing debate on plant cyclic nucleotide metabolism, especially the functional presence of adenylyl cyclase, a novel detection method has been worked out to quantify the reaction product. Using uniformly labelled (15)N-ATP as a substrate for adenylyl cyclase, a qualitative and quantitative liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) method was developed to measure de novo formed (15)N-adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate. Adenylyl cyclase activity was observed in chloroplasts obtained from Nicotiana tabacum cv.