Author's abstract of this paper issued 

 by the bibliographic service, august 5 



SOME FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CATALASE 

 CONTENT OF ORGANISMS 



JOSEPH HALL BODINE 



Zoological Lahoratorxj, University of Pennsylvania 



THREE FIGURES 



In recent years attention has been directed to the presence of 

 the enzyme catalase in organisms and various interpretations of 

 its functions advanced. Most striking are the properties 

 attributed to it by Burge and Burge.^ These authors assume 

 that the presence of catalase determines the rate of oxidations 

 occurring at different stages in the life-cycle of an organism, 

 e.g., ^Hhe increase in the respiratory metabolism or oxidation 

 in youth and decrease in old age are attributed to the increase in 

 catalase in the young and its decrease in the aged.^' 



Various experiments have been carried out by the author on 

 the catalase content and the rates of carbon-dioxide output of 

 grasshoppers and other insects to see in how far such a theory 

 applies in the case of these organisms. The results herein pre- 

 sented show, 1) the catalase content of animals of different 

 ages; 2) the relation between the rates of carbon-dioxide out- 

 put and catalase content; 3) the effect of hibernation on cata- 

 lase content, and, 4) the effect of starvation on catalase content. 

 These will be discussed in the order given. 



METHODS 



Catalase determinations were made by the method essen- 

 tially similar to that described by Burge.- Diluted commercial 

 hydrogen peroxide was used — the same sample for experimental 

 and normal animals in each case. Readings were made at 

 five- and ten-minute intervals, and the rates of oxygen per gram 

 per minute calculated from the averages thus obtained. Carbon- 



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