The Relation Between Nicotinic Acid and Carbohydrates in a Series of Maize Endosperm Genotypes

Abstract

A genotypic series of relatively mature maize endosperm, which had been studied previously with respect to starch content, was analyzed for nicotinic acid by growth of Lactobacillus arabinosus and for thiamin and biotin by growth of strains of Neurospora deficient in ability to synthesize these. Inversely related changes (coeff. of correlation: -0.97) in nicotinic acid and starch content were found to be conditioned by genes at both the suI and the du loci, but nicotinic acid appeared somewhat less sensitive to changes in the genotype. The 7 sugary types averaged about twice as high in nicotinic acid as the 9 starchy types. Exploratory assays for thiamin and biotin indicate that their content is also low in starchy types and higher in sugary ones.