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Science 21 December 1984:
Vol. 226. no. 4681, pp. 1434 - 1436
DOI: 10.1126/science.226.4681.1434
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Articles

Aldehyde Pheromones in Lepidoptera: Evidence for an Acetate Ester Precursor in Choristoneura fumiferana

DAVID MORSE 1 and EDWARD MEIGHEN 1

1 Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, H3G 1Y6 Canada

Labeling studies of the eastern spruce budworm in vivo indicate that trans-11-tetradecenyl acetate is synthesized specifically in the pheromone-producing gland and is degraded in concert with pheromone release; hence it may be a precursor to the trans-11-tetradecenal pheromone. Radioactivity from exogenously added labeled fatty acids did not appear to be directly incorporated into the ester, suggesting that de novo biosynthesis from acetate is the major route of ester biosynthesis. Conversion of the acetate ester to alcohol and aldehyde functional groups may be the principal method of regulating pheromone specificity between species of Choristoneura.

Submitted on March 8, 1984
Accepted on July 11, 1984


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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