Studies on the north sea cod. II.—deoxyribose nucleic acid in the musculature

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Abstract
Deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) was determined in the flesh of cod of different sizes, in different parts of the fillets, and in myotomes and myocomma tissue. Much more DNA was found in myocommata than in myotomes, owing to the higher density of nuclei in the former.The pattern of DNA concentration in different parts of the fillet was in inverse relationship to the fibre sizes. This was explainable in terms of the number of fibres contained in unit volume.In fish of increasing size, the DNA was not, in inverse proportion to the increase in fibre size, although it did decrease somewhat. This was considered to be the result of DNA synthesis in the larger cod.In fish of constant size, observed over a period of two years, the DNA concentration stayed roughly constant over most of the year, but showed increases during certain summer months. A proven explanation was not possible, but the increase was thought to be connected with growth.