著者

岩田 勝哉

出版者

日本海水学会

雑誌

日本海水学会誌 (ISSN:03694550)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.60, no.5, pp.324-334, 2006 (Released:2013-02-19)

参考文献数

63

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TMAO (trimethylamine oxide) and urea are stable end products and cannot be metabolized further to provide skeletons for biosynthesis. These substances are widely utilized in various marine fishes. Particularly, in cartilaginous fishes, a large amount of urea and methylamines including TMAO are accumulated as osmolytes in their tissues. In marine teleostean fishes, a considerable amount of TMAO also maintain in their bodies, although the levels are far less than those of cartilaginous fishes. However, urea levels in teleostean tissues are generally low, and only a few species utilize urea as a device for ammonia detoxification. In this paper multiple functions of TMAO and urea on marine fishes are discussed.