Acetylation of proteins in the course of sea urchin development

Acetate incorporation into proteins including acidic proteins and basic proteins was studied by introduction of isotopically labeled precursors during sea urchin development. At pregastrulational stages, the acetate incorporation exhibited relatively low activities, whereas a remarked enhancement was apparently observed at gastrula stage and more advanced stages. Although some amount of exogenous acetate might be metabolically converted to amino acids, the acetate incorporation into proteins appeared to be mainly attributed to acetylation of proteins that should be coupled with peptide synthesis, as indicated by the incorporation occurring on peptide-synthesizing polysomes and strong inhibition of it by administration of puromycin.