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Tuesday, 16 November 2004
D0257
Which phenoloxidase catalyzes insect cuticle tanning, laccase or tyrosinase?
K. J. Kramer, kramer@gmprc.ksu.edu1, Y. Arakane, arakane@gmprc.ksu.edu1, R. W. Beeman, beeman@gmprc.ksu.edu1, S. Muthukrishnan, smk@ksu.edu2, N. T. Dittmer, ndittmer@ksu.edu2, and M. R. Kanost, kanost@ksu.edu2. (1) USDA-ARS, Grain Marketing and Production Research Center, 1515 College Ave, Manhattan, KS, (2) Kansas State University, Department of Biochemistry, Willard Hall, Manhattan, KS
Tanning or sclerotization is a vital process during insect development in which N-acylcatecholamines are oxidatively conjugated to cross-link proteins and stabilize the exoskeleton. The phenoloxidases laccase and tyrosinase have been proposed to do this, but evidence presented to date proving the precise identity of the enzyme has been inconclusive. To establish the involvement of either or both of these enzymes in cuticle tanning, we performed phenoloxidase RNAi experiments using the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. The results demonstrate that laccase plays the major role. (Supported in part by NSF.)
Species 1: Coleoptera Tenebrionidae Tribolium castaneum (Red flour beetle)
Keywords: RNAi, phenoloxidase
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COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS
- From Margie S. Collado, student, University of the Philippines Los Baņos, July 9, 2006
I am a BS Chemistry student in the University of the Philippines Los Baņos.I am currently working on my undergraduate thesis entitled "Molecular Modeling of Tyrosinase Inhibitors from Cashew Nut Shell Derivatives as Potential Insecticdes Using the Autodock Software". I have read an article by Yasuyuki Arakane,Subbaratnam Muthukrishnan,Richard W. Beeman,Michael R. Kanost, and Karl J. Kramer stating that the laccase is the important enzyme in insect cuticle tanning.Does this mean that tyrosinase is not an important enzyme for insects? Or does the tyrosinase enzyme has other importance in insects? Thank you and I am looking forward for your response. This would be a great help to my undergraduate theis.