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Amino Acid Uptake And Metabolism By Larvae Of The Marine Worm Urechis Caupo (Echiura), A New Species In Axenic Culture, William Jaeckle, Donal T. Manahan

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Axenic (bacteria-free) larval cultures of the marine echiuran worm, Urechis caupo, were reliably obtained by aseptically removing gametes directly from the gamete storage organs. Trochophore larvae only removed neutral amino acids from seawater as measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). There was no detectable uptake, as measured by HPLC, of acidic or basic amino acids. Kinetic analysis showed that the transport system for alanine in 4-day-old larvae had a K_t of 4-6 _μM and a J_max of 9-10 pmol larva^-1 h^-1. Following a 50-min exposure, the majority of the radio-activity (95%) from ^{14 …}