ALANINE UPTAKE BY ISOLATED ZOOXANTHELLAE OF THE MANGROVE JELLYFISH,CASSIOPEA XAMACHANA.I. TRANSPORT MECHANISMS AND UTILIZATION

Abstract
Freshly isolated zooxanthellae of the mangrove jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana were found to take up exogenous 14C-alanine and incorporate the radiolabel into various cellular components. Transport was highly Na+-dependent and lacked stereospecificity. Competition experiments with several L-amino acids and alanine analogs exhibited varying degrees of competitive inhibition, and these results are discussed in relation to the well described neutral amino acid transport systems known for many eukaryotic cells. Inhibition of uptake by KCN and N-ethylmaleimide indicated an active process and a significant electrogenic component to the energetics of uptake. Uptake of alanine was not affected by the inhibition of photosynthesis.

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