Abstract
Summary
Extracts of black chicken feather germs show a cyanide-sensitive, heat-labile tyrosinase activity, forming melanin from tyrosine without added peroxide, in about 80% of trials when one cc of the reaction mixture contains extract of 50-750 mg of young barb tissue. Extracts of red feather germs show a similar activity in about 60% of cases, forming black rather than red pigment. Extracts of White Leghorn germs do not inhibit the tyrosinase from roughly equivalent amounts of black germ.
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