A comparative study on the influence of temperature on the metabolism of glucose in isolated reptilian and mammalian muscle

Abstract

1. 1. The metabolism of (U- 14C) glucose has been studied in isolated muscle from the reptile Uromastix hardwickii. 2. 2. The metabolism of glucose was shown to be qualitatively similar to that found in isolated rat diaphragm muscle but the rate of metabolism was significantly reduced. 3. 3. The influence of lowering the temperature of incubation manifested itself both in the mammalian and reptilian muscle in lowering the rate of glucose catabolism, whereas the effect on glucose incorporation into glycogen and oligosaccharides was not reduced. 4. 4. The reptile muscle showed that there was an increase in the relative concentration of 14C-maltose accumulating at lower temperature and possible interpretations of this data are discussed.