Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase activity in kangaroo and mouse oocytes

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase activity in oocytes and follicle cells of the Australian marsupial, Macropus eugenii (the tammar), and the mouse were determined by a simplified microelectrophoresis method. Mouse oocytes have approx 285 times more G6PD activity per picolitre of cytoplasm than tammar oocytes and about 10 times more LDH. The ratio of LDH to G6PD in mouse follicle cells is close to 3 whereas in the tammar it approaches unity. The very low levels of activity of G6PD in tammar oocytes may be due to transcriptional, translational or metabolic differences compared with the mouse.