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Purine‐Excretory Nature of Refractile Bodies in the Marine Ciliate Parauronema acutum *
Author(s) -
SOLDO A. T.,
GODOY G. A.,
LARIN F.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1978.tb03917.x
Subject(s) - hypoxanthine , excretory system , guanine , purine , ciliate , biochemistry , purine metabolism , xanthine , chemistry , cytoplasm , biology , anatomy , genetics , nucleotide , enzyme , gene
SYNOPSIS. A method was developed for the isolation and purification of crystalline, highly refractile bodies found in the cytoplasm of a symbiote‐free strain of the marine hymenostome ciliate, Parauronema acutum , strain 110–3. Chemical analysis of the purified refractile bodies revealed an abundance of the purines, hypoxanthine and guanine. It was evident from studies involving the use of 14 C‐labeled precursors that both hypoxanthine and guanine are derived from higher purine derivatives. We postulate that these bodies are excretory in function and that guanine and hypoxanthine are major endproducts of purine metabolism of P. acutum.