1. The distribution of xanthine oxidase in blood and tissues of various animals was studied by means of a radioactive assay capable of detecting 10(-7) unit of enzyme. The method was shown to be applicable to tissues with a high uricase content. 2. Of 16 mammalian species examined, six had low concentrations of xanthine oxidase in the serum. In six non-mammalian species, no activity was detected in the serum. 3. The enzyme was not found in the blood cells of any mammals, but was present in the nucleated red blood corpuscles of chicken, turtle and tortoise. 4. Studies of the tissue distribution in four species demonstrated high activities in the liver and intestinal mucosa and consistently low activities in skeletal muscle, heart and brain. 5. There is a rough correlation between the activity of enzyme in serum and its activity in lung tissue in 12 mammalian species. In the dog, left-atrial blood had higher concentrations of xanthine oxidase than right-atrial blood.

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1. [(14)C]Acetoin was enzymically synthesized from [(14)C]pyruvate with a pyruvate decarboxylase preparation. Its optical activity was [alpha](20) (d)-78 degrees . 2. Large amounts (1000-fold higher than physiological concentrations) of acetoin were incubated with rat liver mince. Acetoin disappeared but very little (14)CO(2) was evolved. A compound accumulated, which was purified and identified as butane-2,3-diol. Chromatography on borate-impregnated paper indicated the presence of both the erythro and threo forms. 3. Liver extracts capable of interconverting biacetyl, acetoin and butane-2,3-diol were obtained. These interconversions were catalysed by two different enzymes: acetoin dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.5) and butane-2,3-diol dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.4), previously identified in bacteria. Both required NAD(+) or NADP(+) as cofactors and were different from alcohol dehydrogenase. The equilibrium in both cases favoured the more reduced compound. 4. The activity of butane-2,3-diol dehydrogenase was decreased by dialysis against EDTA: the addition of Co(2+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+) and other bivalent metal ions restored activity. 5. Biacetyl reductase was resolved into multiple forms by CM-Sephadex chromatography and electrophoresis.

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1. The nature of the precursors of the xylene ring in riboflavine was reinvestigated with growing as well as resting cells of Eremothecium ashbyii. 2. The incorporation of acetoin into riboflavine was very low; further, [2-(14)C]pyruvate and [1-(14)C]acetate were equally effective as precursors of lumichrome, and pyruvate was much more active as a precursor of acetoin. These results exclude acetoin as a direct precursor of riboflavine. 3. Addition of unlabelled glucose decreased the incorporation of [(14)C]acetate into riboflavine more than it decreased the conversion of acetate into carbon dioxide, indicating that acetate is not a direct riboflavine precursor. 4. The incorporation of various sugars and dilution experiments suggest that a derivative of the intermediates of the pentose phosphate cycle is the precursor of the xylene ring in riboflavine.