Accumulation of Anthranilic Acid by a Mutant of Maize

Abstract

Several maize seedling cultures, all of which originated from a single seed exposed at Bikini, showed segregation of a mutant type which exhibited an intense bluish white fluorescence due, in part, to the presence of anthranilic acid. The fluorescence varies from plant to plant in extent and time or rate of development and increases with age to the 4-leaf stage then decreases and disappears in plants over 2 ft. Also, at the time of pollen shedding the anther walls fluoresce. The fluorescence is conditioned by a single gene which is recessive in the seedling but dominant in the mature plant.