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Phosphatidyl Carnitine: a Possible Intermediate in the Biosynthesis of Phosphatidyl β-Methylcholine in Phormia regina (Meigen)

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Abstract

CARNITINE can replace the dietary choline, otherwise essential, when Phormia regina larvae are reared on a chemically defined diet1,2. When this substitution is made, β-methyl-choline almost completely replaces choline in the lecithin of the larva3,4. Similar results have been obtained with the house fly, Musca domestica Linnaeus5. γ-Butyrobetaine can also substitute for choline in the diet2, giving rise to phosphatidyl β-methylcholine6. Recent investigations by Hodgson and Dauterman7 have demonstrated that trimethyl-(3-hydroxypropyl) ammonium acetate (TMAA) inhibits the growth of P. regina larvae when the choline of the diet is replaced by carnitine or γ-butyrobetaine but does not when choline is present. Thus, it would appear to inhibit one of the metabolic reactions between carnitine or γ-butyrobetaine and the β-methylcholine moiety of phosphatidyl β-methylcholine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

    H. M. MEHENDALE, W. C. DAUTERMAN & ERNEST HODGSON

Authors
  1. H. M. MEHENDALE
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  2. W. C. DAUTERMAN
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  3. ERNEST HODGSON
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MEHENDALE, H., DAUTERMAN, W. & HODGSON, E. Phosphatidyl Carnitine: a Possible Intermediate in the Biosynthesis of Phosphatidyl β-Methylcholine in Phormia regina (Meigen). Nature 211, 759–761 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/211759b0

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