The Growth-Promoting Properties of Quinic Acid

The inhibitory influence of the toxin on the growth of Chlorella was completely reversible in the presence of l-methionine. A similar reversal has not yet been accomplished in tobacco. That the mechanism of action is similar in both organisms, however, is suggested by the fact that methionine sulfoximine, a known methionine antagonist, produced chlorotic lesions in tobacco leaves that were indistinguishable from those produced by the bacterial toxin. The author is greatly indebted to Professor Vincent du Vigneaud, Department of Biochemistry, Cornell University Medical School, for the 1cystathionine and dl-homocysteine, and to Dr. L. Reiner, Wallace and Tiernan Products, Inc., for the methionine sulfoximine used in these studies.