Collected reprints: Abstract 3269
Collected reprints
Abstract
Nelis, H.J.C.F.; Lavens, P.; Moens, L.; Sorgeloos, P.; Jonckheere, J.A.; Criel, G.R.; De Leenheer, A.P. (1984). cis-Canthaxanthins : unusual carotenoids in the eggs and the reproductive system of female brine shrimp Artemia. J. Biol. Chem. 259(10): 6063-6066
The significance of carotenoid accumulation in crustacean eggs remains obscure, particularly because neither eggs nor female animals have been found to display specific pigment patterns in relation to reproduction. We report here the first example of carotenoids found exclusively in the ovaries, the eggs, and the hemolymph, but not in the carcass of a female, reproductively active crustacean, i.e. the brine shrimpArtemia. These pigments are virtually absent in males and in immature animals and disappear very rapidly in growing nauplii following hatching of encysted embryos. Within the cysts, they are preferably localized in the yolk platelets. We have identified them as mono-cis-canthaxanthins on the basis of their mass and absorption spectra and by comparison with synthetic components. Carotenoids with the unusual cis-configuration have never been isolated from animals, nor are there reports on the occurrence of carotenoid pigments at specific sites. Our findings may thus provide a clue to a precise function for carotenoids in Artemia and, possibly, related Crustacea.
Back to list of volumes
Back to table of contents of volume 15