BOTH D-SPECIFIC AND L-SPECIFIC LACTATE-DEHYDROGENASES COEXIST IN INDIVIDUAL CEPHALOPODS

Both D-lactate-specific and L-lactate-specific lactate dehydrogenases coexist in individual cephalopods, contrary to the commonly held view that invertebrate species may contain one or other, but not both. We d escribe the tissue distribution of these lactate dehydrogenases and of octopine dehydrogenase, the major pyruvate reductase activity in ceph alopods, in three species: common squid (Loligo vulgaris), cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) and lesser octopus (Eledone cirrhosa). The L-speci fic lactate dehydrogenase of squid is shown to be a dimer of 36,000 da lton subunits. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.