Abstract
IT has been clearly shown that insects contain acetylcholine, cholinesterase and choline acetylase, and the work of Smallman1–3 has done much to evaluate these. Since then, a more specific study of the substrate and enzymes in the conductive tissue of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana L., has shown that acetylcholine occurs most abundantly in the brain and ganglionic tissue of the central nervous system4, that the amount of acetylcholine increases after treatment with anticholinesterases when the nervous system shows intense electrical activity5, and that acetylcholine is found in blood at this time6. These facts are compatible with those found for vertebrates.
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References
Chefurka, W., and Smallman, B. N., Canad. J. Biochem. Physiol., 34, 731 (1956).
Smallman, B. N., and Wolfe, L. S., J. Cell. Comp. Physiol., 48, 197 (1956).
Smallman, B. N., J. Physiol., 132, 343 (1956).
Colhoun, E. H., J. Insect Physiol., 2, 108 (1958).
Colhoun, E. H., J. Insect Physiol., 2, 117 (1958).
Colhoun, E. H., Science, 127, 25 (1958).
Colhoun, E. H. (unpublished work).
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COLHOUN, E. Distribution of Choline Acetylase in Insect Conductive Tissue. Nature 182, 1378 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1038/1821378a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1821378a0
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