Abstract
Symbiotic Aiptasia pulchella and freshly isolated zooxanthellae were incubated in NaH14CO3 and NH4Cl for 1 to 240 min, and samples were analysed by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and an online radiochemical detector. NH4 + was first assimilated into 14C-glutamate and 14C-glutamine in the zooxanthellae residing in A. pulchella. The specific activities (dpm nmol−1) of 14C-glutamate and 14C-glutamine in vivo, were far greater in the zooxanthellae than in the host tissue, indicating that NH4 + was principally incorporated into the glutamate and glutamine pools of the zooxanthellae. 14C-α-ketoglutarate was taken up from the medium by intact A. pulchella and assimilated into a small amount of 14C-glutamate in the host tissue, but no 14C-glutamine was detected in the host fraction. The 14C-glutamate that was synthesized was most likely produced from transamination reactions as opposed to the direct assimilation of NH4 +. The free amino acid composition of the host tissue and zooxanthellae of A. pulchella was also measured. The results presented here demonstrate that NH4 + was initially assimilated by the zooxanthellae of A. pulchella.
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Received: 3 February 1997 / Accepted: 24 October 1997
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Swanson, R., Hoegh-Guldberg, O. Amino acid synthesis in the symbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia pulchella . Marine Biology 131, 83–93 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002270050299
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002270050299