[Pterins of Pieridae (Lepidoptera) and their biosynthesis. 3. Study of xanthine dehydrogenase activity (E.C.1.2.3.2) in the course of development]

Xanthine dehydrogenase activity in the clawed frog, Xenopus laevis

Xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH; EC 1.2.1.37) activity in the clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, was detected in kidney tissue homogenates, but not in skin, liver, ovaries or gut tissues. The enzyme migrated as a single band of activity on both polyacrylamide and starch gel electropherograms, exhibited substrate inhibition, and did not appear developmentally until feeding larval stages. The tissue specificity, post-fertilization stage of appearance and single isozymic form make this a useful enzyme marker for further study concerning its developmental appearance and maintenance as a kidney-specific protein.

[Biosynthesis of phorcabiline, blue-green biliary pigment of Actias selene (Lepidoptera, Attacidae)]

The blue-green bile pigments of Actias selene (Attacidae) have been investigated at different stages of its development. Coproporphyrinogen-14-C, protoporphyrin-IX3-H, and pterobilin-14-C, injected to larvae are metabolised into phorcabilin I, the main neopterobilin in this animal. It is concluded that phorcabilin I is a bile pigment of the IX gamma series and that pterobilin is its direct precursor. A method for the preparation of labelled protoporphyrin from quail egg-shell is reported.