Enzymes of the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle and Cytochrome Oxidase in the Fat Body of the Desert Locust

Abstract

VARIOUS workers have shown the presence of some or all of the enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle in insect muscle sarcosomes (for example, in Musca domestica ¹, Phormia regina ², Apis mellifera ³) or in participate fractions prepared from whole insects (for example, from Aedes aegypti ⁴); but other specific insect tissues have received little attention. The insect fat body is often one of the most conspicuous organs and is known to carry out many reactions involving nitrogen metabolism⁵; but almost nothing has been recorded of other oxidative capabilities. As the biochemical function of the fat body is probably not primarily concerned with energy production (unlike muscle sarcosomes), it appeared of interest to examine this tissue.