Studies on the digestion of wool by insects. II. The properties of some insect proteinases.

Abstract

The eHects of a number of protease activators and inhibitors, namely cyanide, iodoacetate, thioglycollate, enterokinase, ovomucoid, Ascaris inhibitor, and soybean inhibitor, have been studied on crude proteinase preparations from the midguts of the following five species of insects: Tineola bisseUiella larvae, Tenebrio molitor larvae, Musca d()mestica larvae, Periplaneta americana, and Locusta migratoria, and the results compared with their eHects on trypsin and papain.