Abstract
In order to know whether halocynine, a novel betaine discovered by us in the muscle of the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi, is endogenous or not, the incorporation of radioactivity into it was examined by injecting L-(U-14C)lysine into the muscle of ascidian specimens. Halocynine isolated from the muscle extract by ion-exchange column chromatography and cellulose thin layer chro-matography was found to be radioactive in the specimen which had been kept in aerated sea water for 10 days after the administration of radioactive lysine. However, the isolated halocynine exhibited only a very weak activity and no activity in the specimens kept for 90 and 60h, respec-tively. These results unequivocally indicate that the ascidian is capable of synthesizing halocynine, although the biosynthetic rate is very slow under the conditions employed.
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