PANTOTHENIC ACID 



Sitodrepa panicea and Lasioderma serricorne, however, grew normally 

 in the absence of the vitamin B complex,* but if the larvae were 

 grown under sterile conditions the addition of vitamin B complex, 

 including pantothenic acid, to the diet was essential for the develop- 

 ment of the insects. It was concluded from this that intracellular 

 symbiotic micro-organisms supplied the vitamin B complex require- 

 ments of these insects under ordinary conditions. 



In common with other members of the vitamin B complex, panto- 

 thenic acid must be present in the diet of the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, 

 to permit larval growth to the fourth instar.^ 



Reference has already been made (page 364) to the relatively large 

 amounts of pantothenic acid (and biotin) in royal jelly, the food on 

 which bee larvae destined to become queens are reared, and which is 

 apparently the only factor that determines whether larvae are to 

 become workers or queens. This amazing property of royal jelly is 

 not due solely to its high content of pantothenic acid or biotin, because 

 the addition of pantothenic acid to the normal food of the larvae did 

 not bring about the metamorphosis effected by royal jelly. 



References to Section 16 



1. E. L. Tatum, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 1941, 27, 193. 



2. H. E. Martin and L. Hare, Biol. Bull. Woods Hole, 1942, 83, 428. 



3. Y. SubbaRow and W. Trager, /. Gen. Physiol., 1940, 23, 561. 



4. G. Fraenkel and M. Blewett, Nature, 1943, 161, 703 ; 1943, 152, 



506 ; Biochem. J., 1943, 37, 686 ; M. Blewett and G. Fraenkel, 

 Proc. Roy. Soc. B., 1944, 132, 212. 



5. L. Golberg, B. de Meillon and M. Lavoipierre, /. Exp. Biol., 



1945, 21, 90. 



17. FUNCTION OF PANTOTHENIC ACID 



Some light was thrown on the function of pantothenic acid in 

 bacteria by the researches on pantoyltaurine and other antagonists 

 already referred to (page 381). The conclusion drawn by H. Mcllwain 

 from this work was that pantoyltaurine interfered with the metabolism 

 of pantothenic acid, and thus impeded the formation of a substance 

 or substances essential for normal growth. Glycolysis was also 

 essential for the formation of this substance, but pantothenic acid did 

 not play any part in this energy-yielding process. That pantothenic 

 acid did not affect the fermentation of glucose was observed by G. M. 

 Hills ^ and by P. C. Teague and R. J. Williams.^ The latter workers 

 also showed that it had no effect on the rate of phosphorylation of 

 glucose, on the rate of decarboxylation of pyruvic acid by yeast juice 

 or on the oxygen consumption of homogenised chick tissues during 



390 



