Abstract
1. The histological distribution of phosphorylase in the maize kernel and the starch formation therein were investigated.2. In the mature kernel phosphorylase was found mainly in the endosperm and embryo, especially abundant at the base of the former. In the immature kernel in which the endosperm and embryo had not yet fully developed, the enzyme was detected mainly in the nucellus, and when very young, also in the pericarp.3. The products from Cori-ester in the endosperm were grains stainable violet with iodine, arising from the amyloplasts around the nucleus, while the products in the nucellus were small granules or branched chains of granules stainable similarly as those in the endosperm, dispersing throughout the cytoplasm of the cell.4. By supplying each of the following sugars through the kernel stalk, starch grains were formed in the cells of the endosperm: sucrose, maltose, glucose, fructose and galactose; among them, sucrose, glucose and fructose were found to be the most favourable. Under these circumstances the starch formation occurred in the amyloplasts which were located chiefly around the nucleus.
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