QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by RICE, M. A. Articles by STEPHENS, G. C. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by RICE, M. A. Articles by STEPHENS, G. C.

Journal of Experimental Biology 135,275-287 (1998)
Published by Company of Biologists 1998

Influx and Transepithelial Flux of Amino Acids in the Mussel, Mytilus Edulis

MICHAEL A. RICE ¹ and GROVER C. STEPHENS ²

¹ Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine, CA 92717, USA; Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, University of Rhode Island, 35 Steamboat Avenue, Wickford, RI 02852, USA.
² Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine, CA 92717, USA

The uptake of amino acids by the non-gill epithelia of the mantle cavity of Mytilus edulis L. was studied and compared with uptake by the gills. Amino acid entry rates and the subsequent distribution of amino acids to the other tissues of the animals were studied using high-performance liquid chromatography and radiochemical techniques. Uptake via the non-gill epithelia lining the mantle cavity was separated from uptake via the gill by employing a preparation in which the gills were surgically removed. Amino acid uptake by such animals was compared with that of suitably sham-operated controls.

In short-term experiments (up to 2h), transfer of substrate from the gills to other tissues of the animal is extremely limited. Amino acids taken up by the non-gill epithelia of the mantle cavity are rapidly transferred to deeper tissues. Roughly 25% of alpha-amino acids enter the animal via the non-gill epithelia. Estimates of total epithelial surface area for the gills and non-gill mantle epithelium are compared with entry rates of amino acid substrates via the two routes. The apparent densities of carriers for alanine and cycloleucine per unit area of surface are approximately equal for these two substrates. The density of taurine carriers per unit area of non-gill epithelium is apparently significantly higher than their density per unit area of gill epithelium. Finally, evidence is presented for differential sensitivity of taurine transporters in the non-gill epithelium to inhibition by alpha-amino acids.

Key words: amino acids, mussel, transport, Mytilus edulis

Accepted on November 2, 1987