Abstract
Characteristic differences in amino acid consumption were observed among cell lines derived from different tissues of the cabbage armyworm, Mamestra brassicae. Ovarian cell lines differed from both the hemocyte and fat body cell lines in the pattern of up-taking free amino acid in media, while hemocyte and fat body cell lines were similar to each other. Ovarian cell lines produced aspartic acid, while hemocyte and fat body cell lines consumed it markedly. Asparagine was utilized by hemocyte cell lines to some extent, however, it was consumed to a small extent by fat body cell line, and produced by ovarian cell lines. Ovarian cell lines consumed a small amount of glutamic acid, but other cell lines exhausted glutamic acid in media. On the other hand, the ovarian cell lines exhausted glutamine in the media while other cell lines produced it to a greater extent. Free ammonia increased in the culture of ovarian cell lines while it was notably utilized by other cell lines. Cystine was utilized by ovarian cell lines to a greater extent than other cell lines. No significant difference was observed for other amino acid consumption. It was assumed that hemocyte and fat body cell lines can synthesize glutamine from glutamic acid and ammonia, but that ovarian cell lines have no such an ability.
