Comparison of black coral skeleton and insect cuticle by a combination of carbon-13 NMR and chemical analyses
Autor: | Jacob Schaefer, Susan M. Holl, Walter M. Goldberg, Karl J. Kramer, Theodore L. Hopkins, Thomas D. Morgan |
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Rok vydání: | 1992 |
Předmět: |
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Coral Cuticle Biophysics Arthropod cuticle Moths Biology Biochemistry Cnidaria chemistry.chemical_compound Chitin Botany Animals Amino Acids Molecular Biology Skin Alanine Carbon Isotopes Tissue Extracts fungi Proteins Carbon-13 NMR biology.organism_classification Lipids Black coral chemistry Manduca sexta Body Composition |
Zdroj: | Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 292:107-111 |
ISSN: | 0003-9861 |
Popis: | Cross-polarization, magic-angle spinning 13 C NMR spectra of skeletal components of individual colonies of the New Zealand black coral, Antipathes fiordensis , have a marked similarity to spectra of the sclerotized exoskeleton of the adult tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta . NMR analysis estimates the organic content of the loadbearing skeletal base of A. fiordensis as 70% protein, 10% chitin, 15% diphenol, and 5% lipid by weight, and that of M. Sexta moth cuticle as 60% protein, 20% chitin, 15% diphenol, and 5% lipid. The younger pinnules or tips of A. fiordensis are less than 3% diphenol by weight. The only diphenols extracted from coral skeleton by hydrochloric acid are 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)- dl -alanine (DOPA) and 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (DOBAL), while the predominant diphenols in acid extracts of insect cuticles are N -acyldopamines. More DOPA is found in the base than in the tips of A. fiordensis and it appears to be a peptidyl component of coral skeletal protein. The oxidation of DOPA and DOBAL to quinones may provide mechanical stabilization of the coral skeleton by crosslinking of structural proteins to other proteins or to chitin. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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