Preliminary studies in some aspects of amino acid biosynthesis in juveniles of Penaeus monodon Fabricius: I. Incorporation of 14C from (U-14C) acetate into amino acids to precipitable proteins

Abstract

Ion-exchange chromatography in conjunction with radioisotope labelling techniques were used to investigate the incorporation of ¹⁴C from (U-¹⁴C) - acetate into amino acids of precipitable proteins in P. monodon juveniles. Highest ¹⁴C radioactivity was found in the adidic amino acids, aspartic acid and glutamic acid. Little but significant radioactivity was observed in alanine, cysteine, glycine, proline and serine. Amino acids which incorporated little or no ¹⁴C were arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tyrosine and valine. It appears that P. monodon juveniles could not synthesize these amino acids from acetate. The essential nature of these amino acids in P. monodon is discussed.