Biochemical aspects of parasitism by the angiosperm parasites I. Phosphate fractions in the leaves of loranthus and hosts

The leaves of Dendrophthoe falcata growing on different trees had differing dry solid content. With 1 exception, the parasite leaf contained less dry solid than host leaf.A characteristic feature of the loranthus parasite was the accumulation of phosphate in excess of that present in host leaves. Expressed as percent of the total phosphorus, the parasite tissue contained significantly less acid-insoluble phosphate than the host leaves. When the acid-insoluble material was fractionated into phospholipid, RNA, DNA and phosphoprotein, every component was found to be present in a smaller amount in parasite than in host leaf, expressed as percent of total phosphate in leaves.A comparative study of the phosphate fractions in the infected and uninfected branch of infected host tree revealed that, without exception, there was a demonstrable increase in the DNA content of the infected branch.

Organic compounds of niobium and tantalum. Reactions of niobium and tantalum pentaethoxides with ethyl benzoylacetate

The following two types of new compounds have been isolated: M(OEt)4- (etbzac) and M(OEt)3(etbzac)2 (where M is niobium or tantalum) by the reactions of niobium and tantalum pentaethoxides with ethyl benzoylacetate. Further replacement of the ethoxide group by the ligand is very slow. These derivatives interchange their ethoxide groups with tertiary butanol, yielding the corresponding tertiary butoxide derivatives. All these derivatives can be purified by distillation under reduced pressure. Molecular weight determinations show them to be monomeric in boiling benzene.