The In Vivo Incorporation of C14 Formate in the Ureide Groups of Uric Acid by Periplaneta Americana (L.)1

Abstract

Leifert (1939) postulated the formation of ureide carbons of uric acid in insects by a condensation of 2 moles of urea and one of a dicarboxylic three carbon acid; this synthesis was based on pathway first suggested by Wiener (1902). Brighenti and Colla (1940) found no increase uric acid in the silkworm after the injection urea and concluded that urea was not involved the synthesis of uric acid by insects. Furthermore, labeled urea was not incorporated to significant extent into the purine ring by vertebrates (Barnes and Sehoenheimer, 1943). The use of labeled formate has demonstrated vertebrates and yeast that formate is incorporated into carbons 2 and S of the purine ring (Buchanan, 1951).