title: Ommochrome deficiency in an albino strain of a terrestrial isopod, Armadillidium vulgare.
abstract: In order to clarify the cause of ommochrome deficiency in an albino strain of the terrestrial isopod, Armadillidium vulgare, levels of xanthommatin, 3-hydroxykynurenine, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid and tryptophan in whole body extracts of the albino and the wild type individuals were determined together with enzyme activities of kynurenine-3-hydroxylase, kynureninase and tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase. Xanthommatin could not be detected in the albinos. The levels of 3-hydroxykynurenine and 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection and were markedly low in the albinos compared with the wild type individuals. In contrast to those, the tryptophan levels determined by HPLC with fluorescence detection did not differ significantly between the two phenotypes. In the albino A. vulgare, kynurenine-3-hydroxylase activity was lower and kynureninase activity was higher than in the wild type, although the differences were not statistically significant. Tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase activity in the albinos was less than 10% that in the wild type. Thus, ommochrome deficiency in the albino A. vulgare is considered to be caused by the extremely low activity of tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Negishi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Naito
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagamura
mesh_terms: D015095:3-Hydroxyanthranilic Acid / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D003445:Crustacea / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006867:Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D007737:Kynurenine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D050601:Kynurenine 3-Monooxygenase; D008297:Male; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases / Q000378:metabolism; D010078:Oxazines / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D010640:Phenothiazines / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D010858:Pigmentation; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000378:metabolism; D012737:Sex Factors; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D014366:Tryptophan Oxygenase / Q000378:metabolism; D014966:Xanthenes
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D010078:Oxazines; D010640:Phenothiazines; D010860:Pigments, Biological; D014966:Xanthenes; C002772:ommochrome; D015095:3-Hydroxyanthranilic Acid; C005045:3-hydroxykynurenine; D007737:Kynurenine; C002866:xanthommatin; D014364:Tryptophan; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases; D014366:Tryptophan Oxygenase; D050601:Kynurenine 3-Monooxygenase; D006867:Hydrolases; C021480:kynureninase