Free Amino Acids in the Blood Plasma of the Silkworm, Bombyx mori L., Infected with Nuclear-Polyhedrosis Virus (Lepidoptera : Bombycidae)

Abstract

Free amino acid constituents in the blood plasma of the silkworm, Bobyx mori, infected with the nuclear-polyhedrosis virus were compared with those in the blood plasma of the normal silkworm. The amount of amino acids was determined by ion exchange chromatography using the amino acid analyzer. Several amino acids (ornithine, lysine, histidine, arginine, taurine, aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamine, asparagine, proline, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, valine, cystathionine, methionine, isolecuine, leucine, tyrosine, phenylalanine and β-alanine) were determined quantitatively in the blood plasma from both healthy and diseased larvae. In the blood plasma of the diseased larvae, the amount of ornithine, lysine, threonine, asparagine, glycine, alanine, cystathionine, tyrosine and phenylalanine decreased, while the amount of arginine, proline, glutamic acid and methionine increased strilingly as compared to normal blood plasma. These results were clearly different from the case of cytoplasmic polyhedrosis. It appeared that the peptide content in the blood plasma of diseased larvae was higher than that of normal blood plasma.