Precursors of the pyrimidine moiety of thiamine

Abstract

1. A method was devised for obtaining the pyrimidine moiety of thiamine in a pure form after its excretion into the medium by de-repressed washed-cell suspensions of mutants of Salmonella typhimurium LT2. 2. By using amino acid-requiring mutants, this excretion of pyrimidine moiety was shown to be dependent on the presence of both methionine and glycine. 3. In the presence of either [Me−¹⁴C]methionine or [G−¹⁴C]methionine, methionine-requiring mutants did not incorporate radioactivity into the pyrimidine moiety. 4. In contrast, both [1−¹⁴C]glycine and [2−¹⁴C]glycine were incorporated into the pyrimidine moiety excreted by glycine-requiring mutants, and this occurred with little or no dilution of specific radioactivity. 5. The possible requirement for methionine as a cofactor and the significance of the incorporation of both carbon atoms of glycine are discussed.