title: The effect of an electric field on the release of hexosaminidase in Tetrahymena.
abstract: The activity of beta-D-hexosaminidase was detected by spectrofluorometry in the growth media of three species of Tetrahymena. The enzyme activity was about six times higher in T. pyriformis compared with the wild cells of T. thermophila, while the MS-1 mutant of T. thermophila manifested very low enzyme activity under the same experimental conditions. An electric field and electrical pulses produced significant though different increases in enzyme activity in media of wild and mutant T. thermophila. In contrast, T. pyriformis responded to the field pulses by decreasing the activity of the enzymes detected in the growth media.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bencsáth
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Darvas
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Csaba
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D013045:Species Specificity; D013768:Tetrahymena / Q000201:enzymology*; D001619:beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001619:beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidases