Stability of free amino acid levels in stressed Abarenicola pacifica.

Abstract

A change in the composition of the free amino acid (FAA) pool of pelecypod molluscs under stress has been described. This response consists of a significant decrease in the level of glycine, while the taurine level remains constant, leading to a decrease in the total free amino acid level and a decrease in the glycine:taurine ratio. It has been suggested that this alteration in FAA composition may be useful as an indicator of physiological stress in a wide variety of invertebrates. This suggestion has been tested by exposing a burrowing polychaete, Abarenicola pacifica, to sediment artificially contaminated with Prudhoe Bay crude oil (PBC).