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Melanin

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Der Stickstoffumsatz / Nitrogen Metabolism

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Abstract

By the middle of the nineteenth century several terms having the Greek prefix μέλας were in common use in Medicine, Ethnology, and Zoology, for describing the production of dark brown and black pigments, and also for the pigments themselves. Men with black hair and dark complexions were said to be melanic. In Pathology, the abnormal development of black pigment in some tissues, for example those of black cancers, was called melanosis. The colour was attributed to a substance named melanose. The term melanism was coined to describe the darkness of colour which frequently appears in excessive amounts in the epidermis, hair, feathers etc. of healthy animals. The chemical compound responsible for melanism was given the name melanin. Later in the century some authors used this name to describe the black pigment produced in melanotic diseases.

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Authors
  1. M. Thomas
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wisconsin, 212-A Bacteriology Building, Madison 6, Wisconsin, USA

    Ethel K. Allen (Collaborator in Bacteriology) & O. N. Allen (Professor of Bacteriology) (Collaborator in Bacteriology) &  (Professor of Bacteriology)

  2. Institut für Kulturpflanzenforschung, Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Gatersleben (Krs. Aschersleben), Deutschland

    Ilse Böttger

  3. Institut für Zellforschung und Genetik, Medizinisches Nobelinstitut, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Schweden

    Torbjörn Caspersson

  4. l’Ecole Nationale de Médecine et de Pharmacie de Rouen, 42, rue Henri Barbusse, Paris V, Frankreich

    Georges Dillemann (Maître de Conférences) (Maître de Conférences)

  5. Staatsinstitut für allgemeine Botanik, Hamburg 36, Jungiusstraße 6, Deutschland

    Horst Engel

  6. Botanisches Institut der Universität, Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 170, Deutschland

    Hermann Fischer

  7. 37 Wettsteinallee, Basel, Schweiz

    Markus Guggenheim

  8. University College, London, Great Britain

    Paul Haas (Formerly Reader in Plant Biochemistry) (Formerly Reader in Plant Biochemistry)

  9. Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

    Felix Haurowitz (Professor of Chemistry) (Professor of Chemistry)

  10. Department of Chemistry, Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

    W. D. Loomis (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

  11. Staatsinstitut für Allgemeine Botanik, Hamburg 36, Jungiusstraße 6, Deutschland

    Ernst Manshard (Abteilungsvorsteher) (Abteilungsvorsteher)

  12. Plant Physiology Unit, Department of Botany, University of Sydney, N. S. W., Australia

    H. S. McKee (Senior Research Officer) (Senior Research Officer)

  13. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Great Britain

    Kenneth McQuellen M. A., Ph. D. (University lecturer in Biochemistry) (University lecturer in Biochemistry)

  14. Staatsinstituts für Allgemeine Botanik und des Botanischen Gartens, Hamburg 36, Jungiusstraße 6, Deutschland

    Walter Mevius (ordentl. Professor der Universität und Direktor) (ordentl. Professor der Universität und Direktor)

  15. Kiel, Gutenbergstraße 76 II, Deutschland

    Otto Moritz

  16. Halle/Saale, Am Kirchtor 1, Deutschland

    Kurt Mothes

  17. Forschungsabteilung, AB Kabi, Stockholm 30, Schweden

    Niels Nielsen

  18. Department of Botany, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South-Africa

    Niilo Rautanen (Lecturer in Biochemistry) (Lecturer in Biochemistry)

  19. Institut für Kulturpflanzenforschung, Gatersleben (Krs. Aschersleben), Deutschland

    Anneliese Romeike

  20. Agrikulturchemischen und Bodenkundlichen Institutes der Universität, Göttingen, Nikolausberger Weg 7, Deutschland

    F. Scheffer (Direktor) (Direktor)

  21. Instituts für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde, Universität Halle, Halle/Saale, Sophienstraße 17, Deutschland

    Karl Schmalfuss (Direktor) (Direktor)

  22. Max-Planck-Institut für Virusforschung, Tübingen, Melanchthonstraße 36, Deutschland

    Gerhard Schramm

  23. Institut für Kulturpflanzenforschung Gatersleben, Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Gatersleben (Kreis Aschersleben), Deutschland

    Hans-Botho Schröter

  24. Department of Agricultural Botany, School of Agriculture, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Great Britain

    D. E. G. Sheat

  25. Division of Plant Industry, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, Australia

    Donald Spencer (Senior Research Officer) (Senior Research Officer)

  26. University College of Swansea, Swansea, Wales, Great Britain

    H. E. Street D. Sc. (London) (Professor of Botany) (Professor of Botany)

  27. Department of Agric. Biochemistry, Biochem-Virus Building, University of California, Berkeley 4, California, USA

    P. K. Stumpf (Professor of Plant Biochemistry) (Professor of Plant Biochemistry)

  28. Instituts für Ernährung Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, In den Gehren 20, Deutschland

    Kurt Täufel (1. Direktor) (1. Direktor)

  29. King’s College, Newcastle upon Tyne, Great Britain

    Meirion Thomas (Professor of Botany) (Professor of Botany)

  30. Institut für Organische Chemie, Technischen Hochschule, München, Arcisstraße 21, Deutschland

    Ernst Waldschmidt-Leitz

  31. Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, Great Britain

    S. G. Waley

  32. Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 6, Wisconsin, USA

    P. W. Wilson (Professor of Bacteriology) (Professor of Bacteriology)

  33. Department of Botany, University of Bristol, Bristol 8, Great Britain

    E. W. Yemm

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© 1958 Springer-Verlag oHG. Berlin · Göttingen · Heidelberg

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Thomas, M. (1958). Melanin. In: Allen, E.K., et al. Der Stickstoffumsatz / Nitrogen Metabolism. Handbuch der Pflanzenphysiologie / Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, vol 8. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-94733-9_41

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-94733-9_41

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-94734-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-94733-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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