132 P. S. CHEN 
they showed that both p- and L-amino acids could be converted to their corresponding 
keto acids by oxidative deamination. The enzyme involved was most probably 
L-glutamic acid dehydrogenase. D-amino acid oxidase was also found in the fat body 
of Periplaneta americana, blatella germanica and Galleria mellonella®: 7. °, but it seems 
that the intracellular symbionts are at least partly responsible for the enzymatic 
activity. No doubt microorganisms play an important part in the N-metabolism 
of insects. In Aphis brassicae, ToTH!“* demonstrated that urea or uric acid could be 
decomposed by symbionts to provide ammonia for other synthetic processes. Recently 
SEDEE!6, by using )N, showed that in the blowfly Calliphora erythrocephala ammo- 
nium nitrate can serve as N-source for new synthesis of amino acids. The trans- 
amination processes in this insect have been studied by DEsAI AND KirBy*’. From 
his work on the German cockroach, AUCLAIR®: 7 concluded that the mechanism of 
deamination and transamination in insects is similar to that in mammals. The inter- 
mediary metabolism of amino acids in insects has been adequately reviewed by 
GILMOUR™. 
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