THE EFFECT OF POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY ON THE FREE AMINO ACID PATTERN OF THE MUSCLE TISSUE OF PROTEIN-MAINTAINED FUNDULUS HETEROCLITUS

¹ Department of Biochemistry, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

1. The effect of a potassium deficiency on the free amino acids of the muscle tissues of Fundulus heteroclitus was investigated employing the method of quantitative paper chromatography.

2. An over-all increase in the total amino acid concentration was observed in the potassium-deficient fish amounting to 1.8 times that seen in the controls. A great increase in the concentration of lysine was also observed in the potassium-deficient forms. In this case the concentration was about 10 times that of the controls.

3. It is therefore suggested that the mode of combating a potassium deficiency in the rat also exists in a fish. The interesting possibility that similar or perhaps identical mechanisms for lessening the effects of a potassium deficiency may be found throughout other representative vertebrate groups, as well as the invertebrates, offers a fruitful field for further comparative investigations.