Abstract
The presence of gorgonins containing up to 10% iodine in the corneous skeleton of sea-fans (Gorgons) has long been known. The formation of iodinated amino acids in these proteins has been studied with radioactive iodine ( 131I). Gorgons ( Eunicella verrucosa (Pallas), var. typica) immersed in sea-water containing tracer-doses of 131INa concentrate iodides with remarkable regularity. The efficiency of this process is such that in 15 days at 18°C nearly all the iodides present are fixed by the gorgons. Pottasium thiocyanate inhibits this phenomenon reversibly, as in thyroid gland. Radiochromatographic analysis of the proteins of living tissues and of corneous skeleton shows that both contain labelled 3-monoiodo- and 3 : 5-diiodotyrosine. Formation of iodothyronines has not been observed. The synthesis of the two iodinated amino acids seems to take place only in living tissue secreting the precursors of gorgonins. The fibres of these do not seem to be halogenated later. The presence of iodotyrosines in gorgonins is probably not bound to an elementary thyroid function, even if these compounds are accompanied by traces of thyroxine and 3 : 5 : 3′-triiodothyronine, as shown in previous researches. The role of iodotyrosines of gorgonins seems to be only structural; they are probably permanent constituents of the protein fibres of the corneous skeleton.
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