Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy Identification of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid in Compressionwood Vascular Cambium of <i>Pinus contorta</i> Dougl.

Following cation and anion exchange chromatography, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) was converted to the 2,4-dinitrophenyl derivative and then purified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). After three HPLC steps, endogenous ACC was identified by GCMS in the vascular cambium on the lower side of Pinus contorta Dougl. ssp. latifolia branches in association with compressionwood differentiation, but ACC was not detected in the opposite wood cambial region on the upper sides of the same branches.The possibility that ACC and ethylene have physiological roles in cambial activity and compressionwood tracheid differentiation is discussed.