Studies on the intermediary metabolism of the aquatic snail,Australorbis glabratus

• 1.1. A study of certain aspects of metabolism of minced snail tissues as compared to the whole organism reveals similarities in respiratory activity with respect to rate, temperature effects, and dependency upon oxygen tension, and differences in the products of anaerobic and aerobic carbohydrate degradation.
• 2.2. Although differences in the anaerobic carbohydrate metabolism are present, the greatest disparity in the behavior of the mince and the whole organism is observed aerobically. Acetate, lactate, and pyruvate accumulate in the minced tissues, while none of these substances accumulate in the living organism.
• 3.3. The presence of cytochrome oxidase and of succinic and malic dehydrogenases as well as of fumarase has been demonstrated. This may be suggestive of the functioning in snail tissues of a mechanism similar to the tricarboxylic acid cycle, but the evidence is not yet complete.
• 4.4. The accumulation of acetate, lactate, and pyruvate in the minced tissues is explained tentatively in terms of a disturbance of the pyruvate metabolism.