The origin of free glycerol accumulated in diapause eggs of Bombyx mori

ABSTRACT. The origin of free glycerol in diapausing eggs of Bombyx mori was examined using ¹⁴C-glycerol as a tracer. When ¹⁴C-glycerol was injected into 5-day-old female pharate adults to label the egg lipids, radioactivity was recovered in glycogen as well as in total lipids in newly laid eggs, but the specific radioactivity in lipid glycerol was 2.5 times higher than that in glycogen. When eggs entered diapause, radioactivity in glycogen decreased rapidly and a concomitant accumulation of sorbitol occurred, implying the conversion of glycogen into sorbitol at the initiation of diapause. Radioactivity in total lipids decreased slowly but significantly, and in free glycerol increased steadily during the diapause period. The sum of recovered radioactivity in these components remained almost constant throughout diapause. The specific radioactivity (cpm/C-atom) of free glycerol was clearly lower than that of lipid glycerol but higher than that of glycogen or sorbitol. It was calculated that about 30% of free glycerol was derived from lipid glycerol in the diapausing eggs.