Arginine biosynthesis and metabolism in terrestrial snails

doi:10.1016/0010-406X(68)90911-0

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology

Volume 25, Issue 1, April 1968, Pages 3-32

https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-406X(68)90911-0 Get rights and content

Abstract

1.
1. Arginine synthesis was studied by the incorporation in vivo of [C¹⁴]-labeled precursors into protein arginine in Otala (= Helix) lactea, Helix aspersa and Bulimulus alternatus. The pattern of incorporation and the specific conversions obtained with these precursors were consistent with the pathway for arginine biosynthesis as it is known in other organisms.
2.
2. A comparison of the incorporation of [C¹⁴]bicarbonate into protein arginine, aspartate and glutamate indicated that the rate of arginine synthesis in vivo is significant in supplying arginine for protein synthesis.
3.
3. Arginine degradation in O. lactea and H. aspersa tissues was shown to be due to the combined action of arginase, urease and δ-ornithine transaminase. Because of the action in vivo of urease, there is a rapid turnover of urea in these two species. Urease is absent from B. alternatus hepatopancreas and the urea formed from arginine in this tissue accumulates.

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Citation Excerpt :
This implies that the carbon isotope signal from ingested inorganic carbonates or atmospheric CO2 may also be transferred into soft tissue (Fig. 5), as carbon from different sources is combined in the hemolymph bicarbonate pool (Fig. 6, Goodfriend and Hood, 1983; Zhang et al., 2014), and a portion of the dissolved CO2 in the hemolymph is synthesized into arginine by arginase (Stott, 2002). Furthermore, previous work has demonstrated that snails can incorporate [14C]bicarbonate into arginine in proteins (Campbell and Speeg Jr, 1968). This suggests that the contribution of ingested carbonates or atmospheric CO2 only shifts the carbon isotope value of the snail shell and body to the positive end, while the offsets between δ13Cshell and δ13Cbody are unaffected.
It has long been known that many terrestrial snail shells are subject to the so-called “limestone effect”. However, the magnitude and impact of this effect on the δ¹³C values of snail shells and soft body tissue (δ¹³C_shell and δ¹³C_body) are still unknown. In this study, Achatina fulica snails were hatched and cultured under controlled conditions and supplied with ¹⁴C-free calcium carbonate and lettuce (a C₃ plant) as a calcium source and food supply, respectively. The snail shells and soft body tissues were sampled monthly for 5 months, and δ¹³C and radiocarbon dating analyses were conducted to trace carbon source variations at different growth stages. Our results show that the apparent ¹⁴C age of the shells and the corresponding δ¹³C_shell values increased progressively from the 1st to 3rd months and subsequently decreased during the 4th and 5th months. The results demonstrate for the first time that carbonate ingestion has a straightforward influence on the ¹⁴C ages and δ¹³C values of shells and that the “limestone effect” changes over the lifetime of snails. Moreover, the apparent ¹⁴C ages of snails sampled in the field are older than modern ages when taken from the northern carbonate region and relatively young or the same as modern ages when collected from ferralic soils. This further supports our findings from cultured snails and suggests that snail shells are good archives for radiocarbon dating purposes in southern China.
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The influence of diet and atmospheric CO₂ on the carbon isotope composition of shell aragonite and shell-bound organic carbon in the pulmonate snail Helix aspersa raised in the laboratory was investigated. Three separate groups of snails were raised on romaine lettuce (C3 plant, δ¹³C=−25.8‰), corn (C4 plant, δ¹³C=−10.5‰), and sour orange (¹²C-enriched C3 plant, δ¹³C=−39.1‰). The isotopic composition of body tissues closely tracked the isotopic composition of the snail diet as demonstrated previously. However, the isotopic composition of the acid insoluble organic matrix extracted from the aragonite shells does not track diet in all groups. In snails that were fed corn the isotopic composition of the organic matrix was more negative than the body by as much as 5‰ whereas the matrix was approximately 1‰ heavier than the body tissues in snails fed a diet of C3 plant material. These results indicate that isotopic composition of the organic matrix carbon cannot be used as an isotopic substrate for paleodietary reconstructions without first determining the source of the carbon and any associated fractionations. The isotopic composition of the shell aragonite is offset from the body tissues by 12.3‰ in each of the culture groups. This offset was not influenced by the consumption of carbonate and is not attributable to the diffusion of atmospheric CO₂ into the hemolymph. The carbon isotopic composition of shell aragonite is best explained in terms of equilibrium fractionations associated with exchange between metabolic CO₂ and HCO₃ in the hemolymph and the fractionation associated with carbonate precipitation. These results differ from previous studies, based primarily on samples collected in the field, that have suggested atmospheric carbon dioxide contributes significantly to the shell δ¹³C. The culture results indicate that the δ¹³C of aragonite is a good recorder of the isotopic composition of the snail body tissue, and therefore a better recorder of diet than is the insoluble shell organic carbon. Because the systematic fractionation of carbon isotopes within the snail is temperature dependent, the δ¹³C of the shell could provide an independent technique for estimating paleotemperature changes.
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  2. The uric nitrogen content present in the animal is high (between 0.24 and 0.44% of the animal's dry weight); however the ammonical nitrogen content is low.
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Arginine biosynthesis and metabolism in terrestrial snails

Abstract

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Analyt. Biochem.

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Life Sci.

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