31P NMR studies on adenylates and other phosphorus metabolites in the schistosome vector Biomphalaria glabrata.

31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was applied successfully to whole intact and de-shelled snails and to the isolated digestive gland-gonad tissue complex as well as other tissues of Biomphalaria glabrata. Several phosphorus metabolites, including ATP and ADP, were observed. The mean ATP/ADP ratio calculated for the tissue complex was 3.1 and the ATP concentration was 0.73 nmoles/mg tissue fresh weight. Assignments for AMP, sugar phosphates, and inorganic phosphate peaks were tentatively made. A major phosphorus component was identified as a phosphonate and this metabolite was also present in egg masses and the albumin gland. Phosphoarginine was not observed in the tissue complex but was present in whole animals. Infection by Schistosoma mansoni resulted in marked alteration in the relative levels of phosphorus metabolites in the digestive gland-gonad complex during the course of infection. The decrease in phosphonate was particularly notable. The relative level of a metabolite occurring at -1.1 ppm was also decreased but its identity remained unknown. The ATP/ADP ratio was not affected by infection, but an increase in the relative level of inorganic phosphate suggested a possible decrease in phosphorylation potential.