Role of phospholipids in the aerobic endogenous metabolism of freshwater mussel spermatozoa

✍ Scribed by Satoru Higashi; Kiozo Kawai

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1968
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 643 KB
• Volume: 72
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9541
• DOI: 10.1002/jcp.1040720110

✦ Synopsis

Aerobic incubation of the spermatozoa of freshwater mussel (Hyriqpsis schlegelii) caused a reduction in acyl-ester content and a corresponding diminution in lipid-phosphorus content. Anaerobic incubation also caused a reduction in acyl ester but a smaller reduction in lipid phosphorus, while it brought on an accumulation of free fatty acids. It was mainly palmitic and stearic acids which were accumulated during the anaerobic incubation, and they were preferentially metabolized during the aerobic incubation. Complex lipids from the spermatozoa consisted mainly of diacyl glycerophospholipids, in which phosphatidylethanolamine was predominant, followed by lecithin, while plasmalogen was a minor component. After aerobic incubation of the spermatozoa, there was a marked decrease in ethanolamine-containing phospholipid fraction. However, no diminution was observed in the plasmalogen content. These results lead to the conclusion that mussel spermatozoa utilize as a primary energy source fatty acids which are derived from the breakdown of intracellular diacyl glycerophospholipids.