The absence of cholesterol biosynthesis in a primitive insect—the firebrat, thermobia domestica (packard)
| Autor: | B. M. Bryce, J.N. Kaplanis, Hugh E. Vroman, William E. Robbins |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1963 |
| Předmět: |
Pharmacology
Chromatography biology Cholesterol Organic Chemistry Clinical Biochemistry Lipid metabolism biology.organism_classification Biochemistry Sterol chemistry.chemical_compound Endocrinology Digitonin chemistry Silverfish lipids (amino acids peptides and proteins) Specific activity Thermobia Firebrat Molecular Biology |
| Zdroj: | Steroids. 2:547-553 |
| ISSN: | 0039-128X |
| DOI: | 10.1016/0039-128x(63)90033-3 |
| Popis: | It has been postulated that certain of the more primitive insects may be capable of residual cholesterogenesis in contrast to the higher forms in which this capacity was lost through evolution. The recent report of high incorporation of dietary 1−14C acetate into cholesterol by a silverfish merited examination in another primitive insect. Hence, several groups of firebrats, Thermobia domestica (Packard) were either fed on a diet containing 1−14C acetate or injected with an aqueous solution of the labeled compound. Radioanalysis of the total lipids indicated efficient incorporation of the 1−14C acetate for lipid synthesis by both routes of administration. Gas-liquid chromatographic analysis of the nonsaponifiable lipids revealed cholesterol to be the major sterol present. After the addition of purified carrier cholesterol, the sterols were isolated from the nonsaponifiable lipids by chroma-tography on alumina and digitonin precipitation. When the sterols from all the experiments were combined and purified through the dibromide, the cholesterol had a specific activity of 3.5 cpm/mg, yielding a total incorporation of about 39 cpm. This radioactivity represents about 0.001% of that incorporated into the total lipids. It is concluded that, because of the very low levels of radioactivity remaining in the cholesterol and the inability to obtain a constant specific activity throughout the purification process, there was no significant incorporation of 1−14C acetate into cholesterol by the firebrat. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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