Oligosaccharides ofSaponaria officinalis
ConclusionsIt has been found that the roots ofSaponaria officinalis L. contain three oligosaccharides.Two of them have been isolated: gentiobiose and the pentasaccharide saponarose. It has been shown that the latter is O-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-O-α-D-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-O-α-D-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-O-α-D-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 1)-α-D-glucopyranoside.
Ueber den Einfluss der Konfiguration auf die Wirkung der Enzyme III
Unterschied ist hiichst wahrscheinlich auf eine kleine Beimengung von Alizarinmonomethybither euriichznfiihren. Die Syntheee von subatitairten Beneoylbenzo&siiuren,. welche sich nnter dem Einflass von conc. Schwefelsiure so leicht in hydroxylirte Anthrachinonderivate iiberfiihren lassen, scheint mir auch ein gewisses pflaneenphysiologisches Interesse eu besitzen. Verschiedeue Anthrachinonabkiimmlinge werden in der Pflanzenwelt gebildet, ohne dass dieselbe den gewaltsamen Eingriff von starken Mineralahran, Metallealzen nbthig hiitte. Ee liegt hier eine Andeutung, wenn auch sehr von dem natiirlichen Wege abweichende, zur Fiirderung der Frage nach der Assimilation und Umwandlung des Kohlenstoffa i n dem Zellengewebe des Pflanzenorganismus For. Diese Sgnthese des Alizarins aus Hemipinsaure sol1 demnicbet auf die Phenoliither ausgedehnt werden. Genf , Universititslaboratorium.
STUDIES ON TERRESTRIAL CONTAMINANTS OF METEORITES
During t h e l a s t ha l f d e c a d e a n unpara l le led upsu rge h a s t aken p l ace in t h e s tudy of meteor i tes , e s p e c i a l l y t h e ca rbonaceous chondr i tes . S c i e n t i s t s from all ove r t h e world, employing t h e newes t a n d most s e n s i t i v e an a1 y t i c a l t ec hni q u e s , i n v e s t i g a t e t h e ch e m i c a l composition of t h e o rgan ic mate t ia l found in t h e s e meteor i tes . In t h i s way they a r e trying to de te rmine t h e phys ica l c o n s t a n t s of t h e meteor i tes and e s t a b l i s h , on t h e b a s i s of minera logica l and petrolog ica l s t u d i e s , t h e cha rac t e r i s t i c s of t h e environmental condi t ions f r o m which t h e s e s t o n e s or ig ina ted and to desc r ibe and ident i fy cer ta in mic ros t ruc tu res which abound in s o m e of t h e s e ca rbonaceous chondr i tes . A l l of t h e s e research i n t e r e s t s a r e d i rec ted towards o n e pa r t i cu la r problem, t h e def in i te so lu t ion of which may indeed have revolutionary e f f e c t s o n ou r c o n c e p t s of t he universe. T h e ques t ion is whether or not t h e s e meteor i tes conta in t r a c e s of ex t ra t e r r e s t r i a l l i fe , t hus proving tha t some kind of biota eve r e x i s t e d o ther t han on t h e ear th , o r if a l l of t h o s e f ea tu res tha t t end to subs t a n t i a t e t h e prev ious ly mentioned h y p o t h e s i s a r e only t h e r e s u l t of contaminat ion by te r res t r ia l matter. T h e impor tance of t h i s problem w a s emphas ized by Berna l (1961: 130) in t h e following way: “ T h e v i t a l ques t ion cou ld be s e t t l e d o n c e and for a l l if s p e c i f i c molecu le s s u c h a s porphyrins o r nuc leo t ides were found. A counter ind ica t ion a t t he moment is t h e extremely low phosphorous conten t of t h e meteorite.” S ince tha t s t a t emen t w a s made, porphyrins (Hodgson & Baker, 1964) a n d poss i b l y nuc leo t ides (Nagy et al., 1963a) have been ident i f ied f r o m t h e Orgueil meteor i te , but s t i l l t he q u e s t i o n of t h e e x i s t e n c e of extrat e r r e s t r i a l life is far from be ing proven. I t is clear from the a b o v e tha t o n e of t h e b a s i c problems tha t o n e faces in t h e s tudy of meteor i tes is tha t of contamination. In order t o e s t a b l i s h unques t ionably t h e e x i s t e n c e o r p a s t e x i s t e n c e of ex t ra te r res t r ia l l i f e through t h e s t u d i e s of meteor i tes , two primary q u e s t i o n s h a v e to b e dea l t with s imul taneous ly . O n e h a s to d e c i d e