Abstract
RECENTLY, there has been some interest in the Caribbean sponge Cryptotethya crypta because of the presence, in extracts of this animal, of a number of unique nucleo-sides1,2: spongothymidine (3-β-D-arabofuranosylthymine)3, spongouridine (3-β-D-arabofuranosyluracil)3, and spongosine (9-β-D-ribofuranosyl-2-methoxyadenine)4,5. During an investigation6,7 to ascertain whether the sponge possessed an arabinose nucleic acid, it was shown that the ratio of the amounts of ribonucleic acid to deoxyribo-nucleic acid was the reverse of that found in other animal tissues. This result has been confirmed histochemically8, and evidence was presented to indicate the possible presence of an unusual nucleic acid. However, no definite evidence has come forth, as yet, for the existence of an arabinose nucleic acid in this sponge.
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STEMPIEN, M., NIGRELLI, R. & PULITZER, G. Further Observations on the Caribbean Sponge Cryptotethya crypta (de Laubenfels). Nature 207, 217 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/207217a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/207217a0
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