Biochemical changes in different tissues during yolk synthesis in marine prawn Penaeus indicus H. Milne Edwards

Biochemical changes taking place in ovary, hepatopancreas, muscle and haemolymph of P. indicus \nduring ovarian maturation have been studied and quantified. The trends in the fluctuation of metabolites \nindicate that in ovary th~re is considerable accumulation of protein, lipid, cholester9l and carotenoids \nbut loss of moisture and nucleic acids. Translocation of these metabolites takes place from the chief synthetic \nand storage organ, hepatopancreas, via haemolymph. During the initial stages of yolk synthesis, \novary is autosynthetic as indicated by high RNA values and RNNprotein ratio. Subsequently the mode \nof yolk formation shifts to heterosynthesis mainly through the uptake of lipid from hepatopancreas. \nRNNDNA ratio has been found to be useful as an index of ovarian growth.