HYDROCARBON CAROTKNOIDS OF THE C40 SERIES 541 



mg. per kilogram of dried flowers. ■''■ '"•' Other flowers which contain 7- 

 carotene include those of Gazania ri<jcnf^ (yellow treasure-flower gaza- 

 j^jjj-) 102, 197 .^^^\ Qf Crocus sativus (saffron crocus). '^^ 



7-Carotene has been report(>d as a component of a number of bacteria, 

 including the "timothy bacillus" {M ycobadcn'iim p///c/) /"'■•■-"" and the acid- 

 resistant Bacillus Lombardo Pellegrini and B. Grassherger ^^^ The wide dis- 

 tribution of this pigment is also evident in view of its isolation from the 

 uredospores of the Puccinia coronifera (crown cereal mst)^"^ as well as from 

 Rhodotorula sanniei,^'^^ both of which are yeasts. 



Fox and Emerson^"'* have also observed the presence of 7-carotene in the 

 Allomyces (water mold) which belongs to the Phy corny ceies. In this 

 fungus, it is found as the coloring material in the gametangia of the male 

 plants, while the female gametangia are colorless. This is in line with the 

 suggestion of Dodge ^"^ that coloring is linked with sex in the Neurospora 

 tetrasperma (Monilia, bakery molds) , in which case the races of one sex bear 

 orange conidia while those of the other sex are pinkish. 



a. Pro-7-Carotene and Stereoisomeric Forms. Although samples of 

 7-carotene found in nature are usually the all-trans form, Zechmeister and 

 Schroeder^"^'^^^ have demonstrated the presence of a pro-7-carotene as one 

 of the naturally occurring pigments of the Pyracantha angustifolia Schneid. 

 However, Karrer and Rutschmann''^ failed to detect this isomer in the 

 coccinia variety of pyracantha. Pro-7-carotene is 3,5,7,9, ll-penta-as-7- 

 carotene. This poly-cr.s-carotene has been isolated in the amount of 0.3 

 mg. per kilogram from the fniit of the Brazilian butia palm (Butia capitata 

 Becc.)^"® The presence of the isomer was likewise demonstrated in another 

 species of Palmae, the gum tree or woolly butia palm (Butia eriospatha 

 Becc.),^^"* where it was found in the fruit pulp. Other sources are the 

 seeds of the winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei h.)^^* and the petals of the 

 bush monkey flower (Mimidus longiflorus Grant), ^" in which case it occurs 

 in a much larger proportion than the all-^mns-7-carotene. Schroeder^^^ 

 found that higher concentrations of the poly-c?'s-isomer were present in the 

 paler immature flowers than in those with the deeper shade which had de- 

 A'eloped naturally. The same was found to be the case Avith prolycopene. 

 It was suggested that pro-7-carotene and prolycopene may be precursors 



"« W. A. Schroeder, ./. Am. Chem. Soc, 64, 2510-2511 (1942). 



1" L. Zechmeister and W. A. Schroeder, J. Am. Chem. Soc, 65, 1535-1540 (1943). 



"8 R. Kuhn and A. Winterstein, Ber., 67, 344-357 (1934). 



199 E. Chargaff, Ann. inst. Pasteur, 52, 415-423 (1934). 



^•'o Y. Takeda and T. Ohta, Z. physiol. Chem., 265, 233-236 (1940). 



2»' E. Chargaff and E. Lederer, Ann. inst. Pasteur, 54, 383-388 (1935). 



202 E. Lederer, Compt. rend. soe. hiol., 117, 411-413, 1083-1085 (1934). 



203 C. Fromageot and J. L. Tchang, Arch. MikrobioL, 9, 424-433 (1938). 



i"* D. L. Fox and R. Emerson, Proc. Roi/. Soc. London, B128, 275-293 (1940). 



^o* B. O. Dodge, Science, 90, 379-385 (1939). 



2<>« L. Zechmeister and W. A. Schroeder, ./. .Iw. Chem. Soc, 64, 1173-1177 (1942). 



