Abstract
IT has long been known that the darkening of the insect cuticle which often follows ecdysis or metamorphosis is due to enzyme action. Tyrosinase has often been shown to be present in the body, and Bhagvat and Richter1 have found in certain soft cuticles an active polyphenol oxidase. The chromogens involved, 'dopa' and related dihydroxyphenols, have been identified in a number of insects2,3, and it has been suggested4 that they play an active part in hardening the cuticle, by providing on oxidation ortho-quinones which 'tan' the protein constituents by the introduction of aromatic cross-linkages.
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References
Bhagvat and Richter, Bioctem. J., 32, 1397 (1938).
Schmalfuss and Müller, Biochem. Z., 183, 362 (1927).
Schmalfuss, Heider and Winkelmann, Biochem. Z., 257, 188 (1933).
Prior, Proc. Roy. Soc., B, 128, 393 (1940).
Dennell, Nature, 152, 50 (1943).
Wigglesworth, "The Principles of Insect Physiology" (London, 1939).
Kuwana, Jap. 7. Zool, 7, 273 (1937).
Graubard, J. Genetics, 27, 199 (1933).
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DENNELL, R. Hardening and Darkening of the Insect Cuticle. Nature 154, 57–58 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/154057a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/154057a0
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