Cestode nucleic acids

An alternative pathway to the Embden-Meyerhof pathway of glycolysis for conversion of carbohydrates to pyruvate is the pentose-phosphate pathway (Fig. 5.13). Its main role is not ATP production but to provide NADPH for fat synthesis, and pentoses (in particular, D-ribose-5-phosphate) for nucleic acid synthesis. The pathway can also convert pentoses to hexoses, which can then be further metabolised by glycolysis. With regard to cestodes, a... 

Our knowledge of nucleic acids and nucleic acid metabolism in cestodes is very limited when compared with many other organisms. Nevertheless, some recent advances have been made and it is clear that new approaches in... 

Nucleic acids normally constitute about 5-15% (by weight) of tissues and there is usually two to eight times as much RNA as DNA. Cestodes appear to conform to this plan as, for example, DNA and RNA represent 0.8% and... 

If recombinant DNA and related techniques in molecular biology are to be applied meaningfully to cestodes, functional nucleic acids have to be prepared such that the DNA can be cleaved by restriction endonuclease enzymes (which digest the double-stranded DNA at highly specific sites, each recognizing a precise nucleotide sequence) and the RNA can be used to... 

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