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An Oxidation Product of Chlorogenic Acid in Tobacco Leaves Infected With Tobacco Streak Virus. Raymond E. Hampton, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506, Present address: Department of Biology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant 48858. Phytopathology 60:1677-1681. Accepted for publication 25 June 1970. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-60-1677.

A method for the isolation and identification of an oxidation product of chlorogenic acid formed in vivo in tobacco leaves infected with tobacco streak virus is described. Caffeic acid, a hydrolysis product of chlorogenic acid, was associated with an acetone-insoluble cell fraction, presumably protein, extracted from tobacco leaves infected with tobacco streak virus but not from healthy leaves. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the quinone of chlorogenic acid binds to protein to form a complex which yields caffeic acid upon hydrolysis. Chlorogenic acid in its reduced state did not bind to protein. It is proposed that chlorogenic acid is oxidized in vivo in streak-infected tobacco leaves, and forms a protein-quinone complex.