CELL-FREE PRODUCTION OF THE SILKWORM SEX-PHEROMONE BOMBYKOL

Cell-free production of bombykol was done by incubating a pheromone gl and homogenate in the presence of NADPH, ATP, and CoA, Addition of n-h exane to the reaction mixture stimulated bombykol production, resultin g in production of 238 ng of bombykol from the homogenate equivalent t o 2 pheromone glands after 23 h, Removal of either NADPH, ATP, or CoA resulted in no stimulation of bombykol production, suggesting that the final step of the bombykol biosynthetic pathway is done by acyl CoA s ynthetase and reductase, sequentially, Incubation first with ATP or hi gh concentrations of ATP suppressed the production of bombykol, Since incubation with ATP also inhibited conversion of [1-C-14]palmitoyl CoA into 1-hexadecanol, the inhibitory action of ATP seemed attributable to inactivation of the acyl CoA reductase by phosphorylation, as media ted by a protein kinase in the homogenate, Our results suggest that th e activity of acyl CoA reductase in bombykol biosynthesis is regulated by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation, and that the activation occurs by dephosphorylation as mediated by phosphoprotein phosphatase.