FIELD J 

 Columns 37, 38, 39, 

 40, 41, and 42 



4. Excised parts of plants and animals used as hosts; coding of these in Field J, as "LIVING" 

 or "NON-LIVING", is dependent on their representation of the normal, intact condition 



When an excised part of a plant or animal is used as a host, the code entry in Field J is some- 

 times the symbol for the organism from which the organ or tissue was taken. Sometimes, however, the 

 organ or tissue is coded in Field J merely as a general plant or animal product such as "meat", "grain", 

 "eggs", "wood", etc. , unspecified as to the particular organism from which it came. 



Which of these two possible Field J entries should be used in a given situation is determined 

 by the condition of the excised structure used as the host organ or tissue. If it is maintained in a 

 relatively normal "living" state, even though excised, it and its function as a host are considered to 

 be reasonably representative of that organ or tissue in the living, intact organism. Under such 

 conditions, the organism is identified by code in Field J and Field L is coded with Symbol R or T to 

 indicate that the organ or tissue coded in Field H-l or I is excised. This point was discussed also 

 in Division 1, in explaining the coding of a bath or nutrient solution for such an excised host. (For 

 the special problem of coding seeds and fruits as hosts, consult Division 5 below. ) 



In contrast to excised organs and tissues maintained in a state resembling that in the living, 

 intact organism, there are those plant and animal organs and tissues, used as hosts, which have 

 undergone death and the alterations characteristic thereto. (Although certain structures of the living, 

 intact organism are dead, such as heartwood, hair, nails, etc. , the coding problem under discussion 

 concerns only excised structures which are of living tissues in the intact state. ) When an excised 

 plant or animal part is dead, it no longer is strictly comparable to the same organ or tissue when it is 

 a living part of the intact organism, neither in response to the organism that would use it as a host 

 nor in response to the chemical administered. Because it is not representative of the organ or tissue 

 of a living, intact organism, it is coded for what it is, an animal or plant product , such as meat, fur, 

 leather, eggs (dead), wood, straw, fiber, etc. (symbol series V- and W- of Field J). In this case, 

 Fields K and L are not coded. Neither are Fields H-l and I coded when Field J is coded with any of 

 the symbol series V- or W-, unless a particular organ or tissue of the test organism responds specif- 

 ically to the test compound, in which case Fields H-l and I are considered available for coding that 

 organ or tissue. 



When a host organism, coded in Field J, is used in one of the special experimental states, 

 homogenate, extract, culture, or slice , Field L is coded to indicate this state. This preparation is 

 not considered to be non-living and coding the organism in Field J, in one of these four states indi- 

 cated in Field L, implies its living state (otherwise, Field J would be coded with one of the non-living 

 hosts, symbol series S- through Z-). In this situation, the coder must never use the Field T-2 symbol 

 serief 18- to code the test compound's action because those symbols are used only to describe the 

 effect of the test compound on the test organism's development on non-living hosts. 



5. Excised and stored FRUITS and SEEDS as hosts are identified as such by being described 



in Field K as the STAGE of the plant coded in Field J--OR--are coded in Field J as a general 

 plant product, according to their STATE. (See also Division 6. ) 



Fruits and seeds, in particular, cause confusion in interpreting them as hosts, making necessary 

 this explanation of the CBCC procedure relative to coding them. The confusion is due partly to their 

 unique nature; they are living organs of the plant, predestined to be discarded by the plant, yet some 

 part of the organ remains alive long after the organism has discarded it, the most persistent being the 

 new, embryonic individual in the seed. When these discarded living organs are used as hosts, it is 

 a question of knowing at what point to cease regarding them as living organs of a specific organism 

 and when to consider them as merely a non-living plant product. Although the CBCC decision has been 

 somewhat arbitrary, the following procedure should always be observed for sake of consistency. 



In the case of undehydrated fruits having fleshy parts (apples, tomatoes, bananas, oranges, 

 etc. ) and in the case of seeds in the undehydrated condition (green beans, peas, sweet- corn, etc. ), 

 in other words, in the case of fruit and seeds in the same general condition they were in as living 

 organs on the intact plant , they are considered as living organs of the plant, since chemical treatment 

 of excised fruit in the condition described is conceivably comparable to such treatment before excision 

 when there is no question about their being considered as organs of the plant. Thus, the plant is 

 identified by code in Field J, Field L is coded with Symbol R and the fruit or seed is coded in Field 

 H-l. Field K is coded with "fruiting plant", Symbol 8. 



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