Amino Acid Requirements for the Wheat Stem Sawfly Determined with Glucose-U-C14 after Vacuum-infiltration

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Abstract
Glucose-U-C14 was incorporated into immature larvae of the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Nort., by vacuum-infiltration. These insects were too small to be conveniently injected and could not be easily fed on artificial diets. About half of them survived the infiltration treatment. C14O2 was produced by the organism showing that the radioactive substrate was metabolized. Of the amino acids isolated from the larvae, proline, alanine, glutamic acid, serine, aspartic acid, and glycine contained relatively large quantities of carbon-14 indicating biosynthesis, and are classed as nutritionally non-essential. In contrast, arginine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, tyrosine, and valine contained little, if any, radioactivity and are classed as nutritionally essential. The concentrations of some of the amino acids in the larval tissues are also presented.