Gorgoderina attenuata: uptake and incorporation of tyrosine, thymidine, and adenosine

In autoradiographic and scintillation counting studies, tritiated tyrosine, thymidine, and adenosine were found to be absorbed and incorporated by Gorgoderina attenuata in in vitro exposures of up to 12 hr. Tyrosine was incorporated into all tissues with the highest levels found in the intestinal epithelium. No evidence for selective incorporation of tyrosine into vitellaria was found. Thymidine was incorporated mainly into nuclei of gonial cells of the reproductive system and developing miracidia within eggs. Autoradiograms indicated assimilation of tyrosine and thymidine was highly variable among individual worms of a treatment group. Adenosine was absorbed and incorporated by worm tissues in large amounts within 3 hr. Variability of labeling on autoradiograms was not as great as with tyrosine and thymidine. Results of scintillation counting and grain counts of autoradiograms on ligated worms indicated all three compounds can enter the worm through the tegument. Adenosine was considered the best possible compound of the three to use for labeling cells for studies on the reproductive system.