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Hormonal Inhibition of the Prothoracic Gland by the Brain in Locusts

Abstract

MOULTING and its control are similar in all arthropods and the mechanisms presumably have a common origin. The final hormone responsible for bringing about the moult itself is, in all groups, a sterol the configuration of which is similar to that of alpha-ecdysone1–5. The moulting hormones of insects and crustaceans act on the alternate groups5–7. The Y organ of Crustacea and the prothoracic gland (PTG) of insects, which produce the moulting hormones in these two groups, have many anatomical and morphological similarities and are believed to be homologous8–12. The Y organ of crabs secretes crust-ecdysone, which has tentatively been identified as 20-hydroxy-ecdysone4, while the moulting hormone secreted by the prothoracic gland of locusts appears also to be an hydroxylated ecdysone13.

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CARLISLE, D., ELLIS, P. Hormonal Inhibition of the Prothoracic Gland by the Brain in Locusts. Nature 220, 706–707 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/220706a0

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