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American Zoologist 1972 12(2):343-345; doi:10.1093/icb/12.2.343
© 1972 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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Ecdysone Metabolism in Insects

DAVID SHAW KING
Zoëcon Corporation Palo Alto, California 94304

The current status of the pathway of ecdysone biosynthesis and inactivation in insects is discussed. Evidence is presented demonstrating that rß-ecdysone is generated from {alpha}-ecdysone by fat body, Malpighian tubules, gut, and body wall, but not by blood, oenocytes, muscle, salivary gland, or the prothoracic gland itself (in vitro experiments with prepupal Manduca sexta tissues). Since {alpha}-ecdysone does not appear to have demonstrable hormonal activity at physiological concentrations in in vitro tissue systems which cannot metabolize it to rß-ecdysone, it is suggested that {alpha}-ecdysone serves as a prohormone rather than as a hormone. The role of the prothoracic gland in the production of {alpha}-ecdysone remains to be defined.


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