Watanabe T, Shibata K, Kera Y, Yamada R
Department of Chemical Engineering, Ichinoseki National College of Technology, Iwate, Japan.
Amino Acids. 1998;14(4):353-60. doi: 10.1007/BF01318854.
Substantial concentrations of D-aspartate were found in several tissues of Scapharca broughtonii together with approximately equal concentrations of L-aspartate. The foot and mantle extracts also contained an aspartate racemase activity. The formation of L-aspartate from the D-enantiomer by the foot extract was apparently slower than the reverse reaction, and this unbalance seemed to be due to the presence of an enzyme activity which rapidly converted L-aspartate to L-alanine. The possible role of D-aspartate in the anaerobiosis was discussed.
