FREE AMINO ACIDS IN TETRAHYMENIDAE.

Abstract

SYNOPSIS. Free amino acids in extracts of a number of tetrahymenid genera, species and strains of Tetrahymena pyriformis were separated by a combination of paper electrophoresis at pH 1.9 and descending paper chromatography with lutidine as solvent. Ethanol extracts of ciliates cultured at temperatures of either 15°, 25° or 35°C were used. Relative evaluation of ninhydrin spot intensity was made for T. pyriformis strains WH52, UM226, hybrids No. 25, No. 76, PR, HS and N. Extracts from 15° and 25°C cultures of T. limacis, T. setifera HZ1, T. vorax V2, Glaucoma chattoni A and Colpidium campylum C were analyzed in the same way.Seventeen spots were usually found on all chromatograms indicating the presence of the substances alanine, arginine, aspartic acid/asparagine, cysteine/cystine, glutamic acid/glutamine, glycine, histidine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, taurine, threonine, tyrosine and valine. No cysteic acid was demonstrable. Cysteine/cystine, histidine, phenylalanine and taurine generally occur in relatively low concentrations or appear to be absent. Those ranked as generally abundant include aspartic acid/asparagine, arginine, serine and threonine. Spot intensities for the remainder of those listed above indicate they were very abundant in most samples.FAA analyses have now been made by us, including those in a previous report, on tetrahymenid ciliates belonging to 3 genera (Colpidium, Glaucoma and Tetrahymena), on 4 species of Tetrahymena (limacis, setifera, vorax and pyriformis) and on 11 strains of T. pyriformis. Although extracts have been compared from ciliates grown at temperatures of 10°, 15°, 25° and 35°C, no striking differences in the qualitative or quantitative composition of the known amino acids in these patterns were observed. It was not possible to establish correlations with serotypes, and no features that might serve as useful taxonomic criteria were observed.