In order to identify free amino acids (FAA) that are importantas intracellular osmolytes in Crassostrea gigas, we investigatedthe change in FAA content in the mantle exposed to an abrupt decreaseor increase in salinity. In hypo‐osmotic adaptation, most FAA showedremarkable and synchronous decreases from 2 to 8 h, suggestingthat the non‐selective efflux of FAA was mainly responsible forthe decrease in FAA. Taurine that accounted for approximately 80% oftotal FAA content contributed most significantly to the hypo‐osmoticadaptation. In hyper‐osmotic adaptation, significant increases inglycine, alanine, β‐alanine, proline, arginine and taurinewere observed. Of these, alanine showed an immediate increase thatis important to short‐term adaptation to hyper‐osmolality, whiletaurine showed a slower and substantial increase that contributesto a long‐term adaptation to hyper‐osmolality.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.