NUTRITIONAL FACTORS OF DOUBTFUL STATUS 



707 



/3-alanine betaine, is toxic and apparently does not serve as a methyl 

 donor. 



The effects of choline in preventing fatty livers and hemorrhagic 

 kidneys in rats and mice as well as the antiperosis effect in chicks and 

 turkeys and the growth promoting effects on mutants No. 34486 and 



Table 48. Activity of Choline Derivatives on Growth of a Strain of 

 Pneumococcus (Type III). 9 



Even when tested at concentrations up to 50 7 /ml. of medium the following com- 

 pounds were inactive: N-phenylethanolamine, 2-nitro-l-butanol; serine; ethylamine; 

 ethylenediamine; glycine; sarcosine; betaine; j3-methoxyethylamine; carnitine; calcium 

 phosphorylcholine; urethane of /3-methylcholine chloride; carbamylcholine chloride. 



a Percent activity on molar basis relative to choline chloride necessary for maximal response of the or- 

 ganism to the compound. Bracketed figures indicate percent of maximal growth attained with the most 

 effective concentration of the compounds which do not give growth equivalent to that obtained with 5 y 

 per cc. of choline chloride. 



No. 47904 of Neurospora crassa appear to depend on a function of choline 

 which involves the utilization of the intact molecule. The ability of 

 choline to form phospholipides may be a critical factor, since it has been 

 shown that analogues possessing choline activity, e.g., triethylcholine 48, 49 

 and sulfocholine, 20 can be incorporated into the body phospholipides of 

 rats. Inasmuch as these two compounds are not methyl donors, it appears 

 that the utilization of choline as an intact molecule is independent of its 

 ability to furnish methyl groups. Additional support for this hypothesis 



