Identification of β-phenylalanine as a non-protein amino acid in cultivated rice, Oryza sativa

Non-protein amino acids, often analogs of the standard 20 protein amino acids, have been discovered in many plant species. Recent research with cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) identified (3R)-β-tyrosine, as well as a tyrosine amino mutase that synthesizes (3R)-β-tyrosine from the protein amino acid (2S)-α-tyrosine. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) assays and comparison to an authentic standard showed that β-phenylalanine is also a relatively abundant non-protein amino acid in rice leaves and that its biosynthesis occurs independently from that of β-tyrosine.