Amino acid metabolism and cell volume regulation in the little skate,Raja erinacea. II. Synthesis

✍ Scribed by King, Patricia A. ;Cha, Chung-Ja ;Goldstein, Leon

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1980
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 676 KB
• Volume: 212
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-104X
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.1402120111

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The capacity for synthesis of β‐alanine, sarcosine, and taurine was investigated in tissue slices from the little skate (Raja erinacea). Synthesis of β‐alanine was found to occur predominantly in the liver and at a rate comparable to the β‐alanine oxidation rate previously measured for this tissue. Synthesis rate did not change when tissues were incubated in a diluted saline medium or when skates were gradually acclimated to half‐strength seawater. Sarcosine was found to be synthesized primarily in the liver, but at a much lower rate than β‐alanine. Taurine synthesis could not be demonstrated definitely in any of the tissues tested. Amino acid analysis of liver, red blood cells, and wing muscle were performed on tissues of skates gradually acclimated to half‐strength seawater and then reacclimated to full‐strength seawater. Only β‐alanine levels returned to predilution values upon reacclimation to full‐strength seawater.