Vitamin B6. A Method to Screen Its Biosynthetic Intermediates

抄録

A paper disc assay method was developed that detect a compound which might function as a biosynthetic intermediate of vitamin B6 (B6). The amounts of total B6-vitamers and true B6 were determined by growth responses to a B6-requiring mutant of Esherichia coli B and Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, respectively. The difference between the amounts of total and true B6 was calculated as the amount of biosynthetic intermediates of B6. Screening for intermediate activity was carried out among culture broths of over one thousand strains of actinomycetes. A B6-vitamer was isolated from the culture broth of an actinomycete and identified as alanine. n-Cysteine, L-cysteine, L-cystine and β-hydroxypyruvate were also estimated to be such compounds after the screening in various kinds of compounds. The B6-vitamer activities of these amino acids were discussed.