HE relative effectiveness of different forms of methionine activity T have for some time been a matter of conjecture and debate. The report this year has been aimed at a review of available information dealing with this question.To start out it is well to consider again the general functions of this amino acid particularly those which involve interactions with other molecular species and their bearing on methionine requirement. This I have attempted to illustrate in the following diagram.The processes indicated are based upon demonstrated nutritional replacements but do not necessarily mean that the biological mechanisms are identical with or limited to those indicated. As one example, there could be some question whether the movement of sulfur from cysteine to sulfate is irreversible since isotopically labelled sulfur given as sulfate has been found in tissue cysteine and methionine to a small extent. It is not known whether or not this took place mainly through the action of intestinal microorganisms.For convenience in further discussion, I shall for the most part, represent the methionine isomers as simply L, D or DL, and the hydroxy analog (DL-b -hydroxy-r -methylmercaptobutyric acid) as A. SAA will designate total sulfur containing amino acids, including cystine and analog precursors.Chicks fed first a practical diet and then a purified diet based on isolated soybean protein showed equivalent growth responses to L or DL. This was true in the presence or in the absence of added cystine and choline. The basal diet provided about half the total methionine requirements from natural sources. (1)Growth of chicks was tested with allamino acids basal diets