INCORPORATION OF PALMITATE-1-C14 INTO LIPIDS OF BLOWFLY DURING FLIGHT

Blowflies, Phaenica sericata, were injected with palmitate-1-C14 and flown on wire turnabouts. There was a decrease of label in the free fatty acid fraction and a concomitant extensive increase mainly in the triglyceride fraction as flight time increased. Little of the palmitate was lost through oxidation or by conversion to non-lipid components since almost 90 per cent of the injected label was recovered in the lipids even after 3 hr of flight. Flight exhaustion and starvation had no effect on incorporation of label during the 60 min period following injection. A small but easily detectable portion of the label from palmitate was found in the carbohydrates of the fly. © 1969.