Uniformly 13C-labeled algal protein used to determine amino acid essentiality in vivo.

The edible alga Spirulina platensis was uniformly labeled with 13C by growth in an atmosphere of pure 13CO2. The labeled biomass was then incorporated into the diet of a laying hen for 27 days. The isotopic enrichment of individual amino acids in egg white and yolk proteins, as well as in various tissues of the hen at the end of the feeding period, was analyzed by negative chemical ionization gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The amino acids of successive eggs showed one of two exclusive enrichment patterns: complete preservation of the intact carbon skeleton or extensive degradation and resynthesis. The same observation was made in tissue proteins. These patterns were cleanly divided according to known nutritional amino acid essentiality/nonessentiality but revealed differences in labeling among the nonessential amino acids: most notable was that proline accretion was derived entirely from the diet. Feeding uniformly 13C-labeled algal protein and recovering and analyzing de novo-synthesized protein provides a useful method to examine amino acid metabolism and determine conditional amino acid essentially in vivo.