During the course of investigation on organophosphorus insecticides, many organophosphorus compounds having methyl-, methyl-chloro-, methyl-nitro-, methyl-cyano-, methylthiocyano-, methoxy-nitro-, acyloxy-nitro-, and chloro-cyano-phenyl groups were prepared and their biological activities tested. As the results of these studies, two compounds were found as new low toxic organophosphorus insecticides, namely, O, O-dimethyl-O-(3-methyl-4-nitrophenyl) and O, O-dimethyl-O-(4-cyanophenyl) phosphorothioates.

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In the previous paper, it has been reported that O, O-dimethyl-O-(3-methyl-4-nitrophenyl) phosphorothioate (commercial name, Sumithion) has not only an extremely low toxicity but also a superior activity towards insects, compared with any other isomers, homologues and analogues. In this paper, the chemical and the biological properties of Sumithion will be reported in detail.

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Rice seed and natural brown rice were irradiated with cobalt-60 gamma rays and cathode rays. Development of primary leaf and root was highly inhibited by irradiation more than 5×10⁴rep, whereas the growth of root was somewhat accelerated by 5×10³rep. More than 1.6×10⁶rep was necessary for the complete destruction of the germination. Thiamine and riboflavin contents of rice seed irradiated with 10⁵rep of cobalt-60 gamma rays were almost the same magnitude as the nonirradiated one, and 87 to 96% of microorganism on brown rice could be killed with 1×10⁵rep.

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It was found that a bacterial strain, KN-69, which was isolated from soil, converted D-glucose to D-fructose. From the results of investigations of characters, it seems reasonable to conclude that the strain is related to Aerobacter cloacae Bergey et al. The formation of D-fructose in the glucose containing reaction system was confirmed by isolation and characterization of the product.

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Fructose formation from glucose by A. cloacae, strain KN-69 was investigated. The maximal activity appears to occur at about pH 8.0 and at 42∼-43°C. Starting either from glucose or fructose the equilibrium is reached when about 47∼-48% fructose is present in the reaction mixture. Isomerization activity of the cells depends on the carbon source in the culture medium, e. g. xylose grown cells react with glucose but not with other aldohexoses and cells grown on the hexose media do not react with those hexoses. Reagents such as carbon tetrachloride, toluene, and bromobenzene strongly accelerate fructose formation by washed living cells, while chloroform shows little effect.

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The nitrogenous compounds of tobacco saps have been studied both qualitatively and quantitatively and the following results were obtained.
(1) Nitrate nitrogen accounts for 40 to 70% of the total nitrogen and the rest is composed mostly of amino and alkaloid nitrogen.
(2) Amides and basic amino acids compose a large part of the amino and amide nitrogen. Among the amino acids and amides of the tobacco saps glutamine is the highest in the content and asparagine, lysine, leucine and serine follow glutamine.
(3) Topping procedure increased remarkably the alkaloid contents in the sap but decreased the amino acid nitrogen as compared with those of the untopped plant sap.

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Heat penetration data on canned corned beef and luncheon meat are presented. The effects of can size, retort temperature and composition on process requirements and quality are demonstrated and discussed.

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Nicotinic acid hydrazid (NH) gave three waves at the dropping mercury electrode and can be polarographicallyd etermined. Sarkomycinn icotinic acid hydrazid derivative (SK-NH), consisting of sarkomycin (SK) and NH, gave three polarographic waves, one of which disappeared in alkaline pH region. The half-wave potential of the second wave of SK-NH was the same as that of the first wave of SK and the half-wave potential of the third wave in the acid pH region was the same as that of the second wave of NH. The relation between limiting current and concentration of SK-NH was linear, but the regression obtained by one lot of sample was different from that by another lot of sample. The regression of limiting current of the third wave at pH 8.5 upon NH content was coincident within error throughout the samples used herein.

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Sarkomycin S₁ gave three waves at the dropping mercury electrode. The first and the second waves were purely controlled by the reaction rate and the third wave controlled by diffusion. The relation between limiting current of each wave and concentration yielded straight lines, but sometimes another line was produced, probably because of the status of the solution. At pH 10.0, S₁ showed an oxidation wave and positive nitroprusside reaction and moreover, reacted with monoiodoacetic acid. The mixture of S₁ and CoCl₂, seemingly gave a hydrogen catalytic wave due to the SH group in ammonia buffer. Therefore, S₁ exists as thiol in alkaline solution.
Sarkomycin S₂ gave three waves at the dropping mercury electrode. The first wave was purely controlled by the reaction rate and the others by diffusion. The relation between limiting current of each wave and concentration yielded straight lines, but values obtained in some cases did not coincide with those above. At pH 10.0, S₂ showed an oxidation wave and positive nitroprusside reaction and reacted with monoiodoacetic acid. Furthermore, the mixture of S
2 and CoCI
2 in ammonia buffer seemingly gave the hydrogen catalytic wave due to the SH group. Therefore, S₂ might be decomposed to thiol in alkaline solution.

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Sarkomycin (SK) can be polarographically estimated by treatment with sodium sulfite. The waves of SK disappeared on addition of sodium sulfite and the decreased limiting current was linearly related to SK concentration.

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A convenient and rapid method for the determination of sarkomycin (SK) is proposed. This method is based on the amperometric titration of SK in hydrochloric acid with potassium bromate-bromide solution, u sing the rotating platinum wire electrode to indicate the end-point. By application of this method such a small amount even as 0.05 unit of SK can be successfully determined.

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The outline of this report has already been published as a short communication concerningmuta-aspergillic acid, C₁₁H₁₈N₂O₃, a new growth inhibitant against hiochi-bacteria.Deoxymuta-aspergillic acid, C₁₁H₁₈N₂O, reduction product of muta-aspergillic acid, was convertedto 2, 5-diketopiperazine, C₁₁H₂0N₂O₂, and this compound was shown to be leucyl-valineanhydride since on hydrolysis, it yielded leucine and valine. These results and physical andchemical data on muta-aspergillic acid led to draw the conclusion that formula (I) or (II) is the most possible structure for this antibiotic.

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The outline of this report has already been published as a short communication concerning the synthesis of deoxymuta-aspergillic acid and its identificationw ith 2-isobutyl-5-isopropyl-3-hydroxypyrazine. This synthesis establishes the structure of muta-aspergillic acid as formula (I).

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