Worm Breeder's Gazette 2(2): 1a

These abstracts should not be cited in bibliographies. Material contained herein should be treated as personal communication and should be cited as such only with the consent of the author.

Title unknown.

Authors unknown.

Adenosine, at 0.004 M, stimulates growth of cultures of Turbatrix 
aceti in the absence of nucleotides.  At 0.016 M, it is strongly 
inhibitory.  In the case of Caenorhabditis briggsae (a strain of C.  
elegans?), adenosine at 0.008 M is inhibitory and at 0.016 M, it 
essentially prevents reproduction.  Guanosine has little effect up to 
0.002 M.  Uridine and cytidine are stimulatory.  AMP also effectively 
inhibits growth of C.  briggsae.
C.  briggsae shows limited reproduction in larval cultures with an 
F1 time of 7-11 days at 20 C in a defined medium containing hemin.  
Addition to the medium of a fraction isolated from soy-peptone yields 
large populations with an F1 time of 4-5 days.  Similar results are 
obtained in mass culture: without the soy-peptone factor, populations 
are about 1/6 of those obtained in the presence of the factor.  At the 
present stage of purification, the factor appears to have a molecular 
weight of less than 1800.  Preliminary results indicate that it 
contains no nucleic acid, little carbohydrate and no specific spectral 
properties.  After hydrolysis, a substantial ninhydrin reaction is 
obtained.  Chromatography of the hydrolysate indicates the presence of 
5-6 amino acids.  In short, the material appears to consist of a 
peptide.