Influence of hydrostatic pressure on the activity of alkaline phosphatase in some marine invertebrates

Abstract

Investigations on the influence of pressure on the activity of alkaline phosphatase of some marine invertebrates from the Baltic Sea were carried out at temperatures between 5 ~ and 55 ~ The results obtained indicate ~hat the influence of pressure on alkaline phosphatase activity is modified by temperature. At low temperatures, pressure has a decreasing effect on enzyme activity, while it has an increasing effect at higher temperatures. The gill homogenates of the relatively pressure-resistent bivalves Cyprina islandica and Mytilus eduIis show a lower decrease of activity under pressure at low temperatures than the gill-homogenate of Carcinus maenas and a purified enzyme preparation of a homoiothermal animal.