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Tryptophan and Nicotinamide in the Nutrition of the Animal Microorganism, Tetrahymena¹

Biological Laboratory, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts

The ciliated protozoan, Tetrahymena geleii W, was grown in a chemically defined medium and tests were conducted to determine whether or not there is a relationship between tryptophan and nicotinamide synthesis in this organism. It was found that the level of tryptophan in the medium in no way affected the organism's inability to synthesize nicotinamide. Corn extracts, containing the "pellagragenic" agent, produced inhibition but the inhibition was not reversed by tryptophan or nicotinamide or both together. This "germ-free" animal, therefore, is similar to "germ-free" Drosophila in its requirement for exogenous niacin. The implications of these findings in relation to mammals are discussed.

Manuscript received 4 January 1949.