The red tide alga, Chattonella antiqua, was found to show a strong chemiluminescence, using luminol as the reagent, when exposed to ultraviolet irradiation. This luminescence was completely inhibited by ascorbate or catalase, suggesting that hydrogen peroxide was generated by the plankton. Red tide cells exposed to fish gill mucus from young yellowtail resulted in the release of a large number of mucocysts and a weak luminosity, and showed a strong reduction of cytochrome c in the medium. Therefore, the discharge of mucocysts from the red tide, induced by the presence of gill mucus, may be accompanied by the release of active oxygen species. The active oxygen may be involved in depolymerization of mucus glycoproteins from the gill lamellae.

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Cryosectioning and autoradiographic techniques to estimate and compare the radioactivities in various regions of the tubular organs were established in small experimental animals after injection of RI compound. The cryosectioning involved the entire extent of a tubular organ, such as the alimentary tract and the uterine tube of mice. H-E staining of cryosections was sufficient to distinguish histological features in each region of the tubular organs under low power magnification.In mice injected with 14C-glucose or 14C-mannose, autoradiographs of alimentary tract and pregnant uterine tube gave much useful information concerning the regional differences in the distribution of radioactivity in these tubular organs.Recent development of autoradiographic and histochemical techniques for wholebody sections made it possible to examine the incorporation of RI-labeled compounds in organs and tissues quantitatively and qualitatively. In addition, staining methods of autoradiographed whole-body sections were established by Watanabe et al. (4) and Shimono et al. (3). With these methods, it is feasible to estimate and compare radioactivities in various parts of organs and tissues precisely according to their histological plan. For tubular organs, these techniques are not sufficient for such demands in research because the single whole-body section does not display any tubular organ as a whole. The present investigations were performed with the intention of establishing a technique to express tubular organ such as the intestine and the uterus in mice as a whole within a single section. MATERIALS AND METHODS1) Animals: Adult albino male mice of the ICR strain weighing approximately 25 g were used for gastrointestinal autoradiography and pregnant mice (12th day) of the same strain were used for autoradiography of the uterus. These mice were fed a normal diet (CE-2, CLEA JAPAN, INC.,) and given water ad libitum. During the experiments, they were given only water.

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