Uptake and Incorporation of Glucose, Tyrosine, Leucine, and Thymidine by Adult Philophthalmus megalurus (Cort, 1914) (Trematoda), as Determined by Autoradiography

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Abstract
Adult worms exposed in vitro to tritiated compounds were later processed for autoradiography, using standard histological techniques for paraffin sections to detect incorporated compounds, and freeze-dried specimens embedded directly in epoxy resin for substances lost by the 1st method. Histochemical techniques were used for glycogen and alkaline phosphatase. Glucose was absorbed largely through the tegument and became widely distributed in 1 min. In 15 min, tissues positive for glycogen showed intense radioactivity, indicating conversion of glucose to glycogen. Limitation of alkaline phosphatase to the excretory system implied unimportance of that enzyme to glucose absorption. Tyrosine and leucine entered the worm in 5 min, mostly through the gut, and became generally distributed. Incorporation occurred throughout the body in 15 min, and more rapidly in certain tissues, notably the vitellaria which assimilated tyrosine in 10 min. Studies with actidione indicated that the amino acids were incorporated in protein. Eight hours after tyrosine was injected into infected birds it was incorporated by the vitelline cells. Subsequent concentration of that tyrosine in eggshells revealed that eggs are laid 10 days after synthesis of their shell material by the vitellaria. In 5 min thymidine entered worms through the tegument and gut and became generally distributed. In 30 min incorporation occurred in nuclei throughout immature worms but almost entirely in the reproductive system of ovigerous specimens. Activity was greatest in the testes and developing eggs. Entry and incorporation of thymidine, glucose, tyrosine, and leucine in developing miracidia demonstrated that the uterus is more than a passive conduit for eggs,.

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