Abstract
It is well-known that phenolic compounds can be detoxicated in mammalia by conjugation with either glucuronic acid or sulfuric acid. It has recently been reported that in rabbit a part of the orally administered pentachlorophenol (PCP) can be recovered in urine as its glucuronide2). No studies, however, have been made of the mode of detoxication of PCP in aquatic organisms. In our previous work7), it was found that PCP-Na dissolved in sea water was rapidly changed to some bound-form of PCP by a shell-fish, Tapes philippinarum.
The present paper deals with the isolation and identification of a conjugated 14C-labelled PCP-Na which is biosynthesized by the shell-fish. A PCP conjugate was isolated by treating a shell-fish culture medium with activated charcoal, followed by elution with ammonia-acetone, and finally by subjecting the eluate to silica-gel thin layer chromatography. The behaviors of the isolated conjugate in the chromatography and in the extractability with xylene were identical to those of synthesized PCP sulfate. An experimental result that the molar ratio of PCP to SO4 was about unity, evidences that the isolated PCP conjugate is a sulfate ester of PCP. It is to be concluded, therefore, that PCP can be largely detoxicated in the shell-fish by the conjugation with sulfate.
