Pterins Found in Silkworm and Drosophila

Abstract

1) The normal strain of silkworm contains isoxanthopterin, while its mutant lem has a yellow pigment xanthopterin-B, which is a 2-amino-4-hydroxypteridine derivative. 2) The yellow pigment in the head of the mutant strains, se and cl of Drosophila melanogaster, is also xanthopterin-B. 3) The wild, cn, v, se and cl strains of Drosophila melanogaster have several pteridine derivatives, but the bw, w and its alleles which have no red eye pigment, are lacking in pterins. This suggests the close relation between the red eye pigment and pterins.