Administration of Thiamine and Thiochrome Enhanced Reproduction of Chlorella, Drosophila melanogaster, and Danio.

Thiochrome, a natural metabolite of thiamine, has scarcely attracted the attention of researchers, since many of them considered it to be a biologically inactive substance. We examined a possible effect of thiochrome upon the reproduction of the organisms of Chlorella, Drosophila, and Danio. We added thiamine or thiochrome to the culture medium or to the aquaria. Our data showed that the number of cells and organisms were increased in the presence of thiamine and thiochrome. We suggest possible effect(s) of thiamine and thiochrome on the reproduction of these organisms.