摘要:

AbstractThis paper emphasizes the importance of the protein component of cuticles. Correlation of electrophoretic charge distribution of individual cuticular proteins and physical properties of the cuticles from which they were extracted, as well as interpopulation and interspecies conservation of electrophoretic patterns, are used to argue that individual proteins play precise roles in the cuticle. Glycosylation of cuticular proteins is described, but no function for these modifications is yet known. Analogy is drawn to analyses of chorion proteins and the case is made that analysis of amino acid sequence data is likely to provide insights into how cuticular proteins and chitin interact to construct the diverse types of cuticles.

ISSN:0739-4462    

DOI:10.1002/arch.940060402

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1987

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractEvidence that biosynthetic pathways critical to the formation of insect cuticle are retained in continuous insect cell lines opens new possibilities for research on the cuticle system. Recent findings indicate that chitin, molting hormone, and catecholamines are all produced by a vesicle cell line derived from embryos of the cockroachBlattella germanica.The chitin that is formed by this cell line is particulate and does not show the characteristic featherlike crystalline structure found in mature cuticle. The molting hormone is produced as ecdysone and is released into the culture medium. The addition of 20‐hydroxyecdysone to the cultures increases the production of chitin fourfold. These responses are similar to those found in insect organ culture

ISSN:0739-4462    

DOI:10.1002/arch.940060403

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1987

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe chemistry, biochemistry, and physiology of insect cuticular lipids are reviewed. The types of components present in cuticular extracts are described with special emphasis on the occurrence and identification of the di‐ and trimethylalkanes and the newly discovered tetramethylalkanes. The methods used in the extraction of cuticular components are discussed, including recommendations to standardize procedures. The structural elucidation of methylalkanes, particularly the mass spectral interpretation of multi‐methyl‐branched alkanes, is reviewed. The biosynthesis of cuticular lipids is discussed with emphasis on the hydrocarbon components, describing elongation reactions and the origin of the methyl branches. The effects of environment and development on cuticular lipids are rev

ISSN:0739-4462    

DOI:10.1002/arch.940060404

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1987

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractRecent studies on chitin metabolism in insect cuticle are reviewed. Differences in enzymes involved in both synthesis and degradation of chitin are discussed. Emphasis is put on the complexity of chitin degradation involving various enzymes. Evidence for the possible existence of an alternative pathway leading to the formation of chitin is introduced. The involvement of hormones in chitin metabolism is also briefly discussed.

ISSN:0739-4462    

DOI:10.1002/arch.940060405

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1987

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractInsects have become one of the most successful animal groups in diversity and numbers through the development of a multifunctional exoskeleton and skin, which must be shed periodically in order for them to grow and develop into adults. The evolutionary choice of certain structural materials for the assembly and stabilization of a cuticle with remarkable mechanical and chemical properties has allowed insects to invade terrestrial environments and to evolve flight mechanics for dispersion relatively early in geological history. Diphenolic compounds derived from tyrosine play a central role in sclerotization or tanning of the new cuticle. The phenolic amino acid is stored during larval feeding, and it is mobilized for the production of both structural proteins and diphenolic tanning precursors that are transported into the cuticle. The latter compounds permeate the cuticle and serve as precursors for quinonoid derivatives that both sclerotize and pigment the exoskeleton. This report focuses on how tyrosine and derived diphenolic structures are stored as inactive molecules in preecdysial stages, and how they are released and metabolized to tanning chemicals that stabilize the new cuticle.

ISSN:0739-4462    

DOI:10.1002/arch.940060406

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1987

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0739-4462    

DOI:10.1002/arch.940060401

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1987

数据来源: WILEY