P-31 NMR-STUDIES OF THE METABOLIC CHANGES IN THE PRAWNS PALAEMON SERRATUS AND P-ELEGANS DURING EXERCISE

In vivo P-31 NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy) was used to examine the changes in phosphometabolites in the abdominal muscle of 2 closely related prawns, Palaemon serratus and P. elegans, after exer cise. Two types of exercise were produced by electrical stimulation: b rief maximal exercise and exercise to exhaustion. ATP was extracted an d analyzed by HPLC to calculate the absolute concentrations of metabol ites measured by NMR. The main findings were: (1) At rest, P. serratus had lower muscle concentrations of phosphoarginine, arginine and ATP than P. elegans. (2) During exercise, the ATP concentration in P. serr atus muscle decreased by 23% from that at the start of the exercise, w hile that of P. elegans remained unchanged. (3) The patterns of post-e xercise phosphometabolite recovery in the 2 species were similar. Thus , P. elegans, which is more tolerant of environmental anaerobiosis, is also more able to maintain its cellular energy state during bursts of muscular activity.