1. THE ACTION OF FUMIGANTS ON INSECTS: III. THE FATE OF HYDROGEN CYANIDE IN SITOPHILUS GRANARIUS (<scp>L</scp>.)
- Author
-
Bond Ej
- Subjects
chemistry.chemical_classification ,Insecta ,Hydrolyzed protein ,Cyanide ,Hydrogen cyanide ,food and beverages ,chemistry.chemical_element ,General Medicine ,Amino acid ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,chemistry ,Hydrogen Cyanide ,Carbon dioxide ,Aspartic acid ,Animals ,Weevils ,Organic chemistry ,Pesticides ,Trichloroacetic acid ,Carbon - Abstract
A study of the fate of hydrogen cyanide in fumigated S. granarius adults, using carbon-14 labelled cyanide, showed that this poison became generally distributed and combined with various metabolites. Labelled carbon was found in three compounds of a trichloroacetic acid extract and in one compound of the hydrolyzed proteins and in the body fats. Only a very small amount of the carbon was excreted from the insect's body as carbon dioxide, but a considerable amount was found in the excrement; nine radioactive compounds were isolated from the water-soluble fraction of the excrement. One of these, a polypeptide, contained nearly half of the total labelled carbon that was excreted and most of the activity was present in the aspartic acid portion of the compound; thus it appears that this insect can not only excrete amino acids but also it can synthesize and use them for the elimination of cyanide from their bodies.
- Published
- 1961
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