Summary
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1.
Extracts of fresh, freeze-dried, and heat-dried eyestalks prepared directly in physiological saline evoked nearly identical melanin-dispersing responses. The highly active ethanol-soluble fraction extractable from fresh eyestalks ofUca was to a great extent unextractable after the eyestalks were freeze-dried, heat-dried, or pretreated with a variety of organic solvents, whereas the melanin-dispersing substance in the ethanol-insoluble fraction of the eyestalk was resistant to these treatments. The melanin-dispersing substance obtained by direct extraction of the eyestalk in water is more resistant to treatment with organic solvents than the substance present in the ethanol-soluble fraction.
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2.
The melanin-dispersing activities of the eyestalk material soluble in various solvents showed no overall relationship with the dielectric constants of the solvents used. However, the melanin-dispersing activity was related to the dielectric constants of the normal alcohols used in the following decreasing order: methanol>ethanol>propanol>butanol>amyl alcohol.
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3.
Ether and isopropyl ether destroyed most of the melanin-dispersing material present in the ethanol-soluble and water-soluble fractions of the eyestalk, possibly due to excessive oxidation.
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4.
The melanin-dispersing material in the ethanol-soluble fraction of the eyestalk is greatly destroyed by heat. In contrast, the melanin-dispersing material in the water-soluble fraction of the eyestalk is resistant to heat.
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5.
The possibility that two melanin-dispersing substances are present in the eyestalks ofUca is considered and discussed.
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This investigation was supported by Grant GB-5236 from the National Science Foundation.
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Rao, K.R., Bartell, C.K. & Fingerman, M. Solubility and stability properties of the melanin-dispersing substances from the eyestalks of the fiddler crab,Uca pugilator . Z. Vergl. Physiol. 60, 1–13 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00737091
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00737091