The isolation of components from the cell wall of <i>Lactobacillus casei</i>

Abstract

FOLATES IN PHYSALIA 15 tion, (b) that the fl-carbon atom of serine is a pre- cursor of the N10-formyl carbon atom of tetra- hydrofolates (Jaenicke, 1955; Deodhar, Sakami & Stevens, 1955) and (c) that the gas gland, whose special function is the evolution of carbon mon- oxide, contains the highest concentration of folates of any animal tissue examined, it would appear probable that tetrahydrofolates are carriers of the C, units which ultimately appear as carbon monoxide. SUMMARY 1. A general procedure is presented for the determination of the several forms of folates present in tissue. Portions of acetone-dried tissue are extracted at several temperatures, the extracts are fractionated on diethylaminoethylcellulose columns, and the fractions obtained are examined for their ability to support growth of two microorganisms. The nature of the folates originally present is deduced from the collected observations.