Abstract
Odier1, Wigglesworth2, Pryor3 and others have demonstrated the presence of protein in the cuticle of various insects. The most modern study is that of Fraenkel and Rudall4 using material from the pre-pupal and pupal stages of the blowfly Sarcophaga falculata. They showed that in the larval stage the cuticle contains a high proportion of a protein which is very soluble in water. On pupation more protein is added and the process of melanization is correlated with hardening, water loss and the loss of solubility of the protein.
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References
Odier, Mem. Soc. Hist. Nat. (Paris), 1, 29 (1823).
Wigglesworth, Quart. J. Micro. Sci., 76, 269 (1933–34).
Pryor, Proc. Roy. Soc., B, 128, 393 (1940).
Fraenkel and Rudall, Proc. Roy. Soc., B, 129, 1 (1940).
Scott, Amer. Dyestuffs Reporter, 28, 501 (1939).
Alders, Biochem. Z., 183, 446 (1927).
Meyer, Cold Spring Harbour Symp., 6, 91 (1938).
Hurst, NATURE, 145, 462 (1940); and private communication.
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TRIM, A. The Protein of Insect Cuticle. Nature 147, 115–116 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147115a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147115a0
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