SEPARATION OF BOMBYXIN FROM A NEUROPEPTIDE OF BOMBYX-MORI SHOWING SUMMER-MORPH-PRODUCING HORMONE (SMPH) ACTIVITY IN THE ASIAN COMMA BUTTERFLY, POLYGONIA-C-AUREUM L

A neuropeptide from brain-suboesophageal ganglion (Br-SG) complexes of the silkmoth, Bombyx mori, shows summer-morph-producing hormone (SMPH ) activity in the Asian comma butterfly, P. c-aureum. The SMPH-active peptide was extracted and demonstrated to be almost the same molecular size as bombyxin (4-5 kD), a nueropeptide which shows prothoracicotro pic hormone (PTTH) activity when assayed in vitro with prothoracic gla nds (PGs) of 4th-instar B. mori larvae in vitro, A Sephadex G-50 fract ion of 3-8 kD molecules prepared from Br-SG complexes of B. mori adult s was applied to CM-, SP-, DEAE- or QAE- Toyoperal columns at pH 5.6 ( or pH 6.9), The SMPH-activity could be separated from the PTTH-activit y (or bombyxin) by subjecting a SMPH- and PTTH-active preparation of B . mori to anion-exchange chromatography at pH 6.9, By reversed-phase H PLC following an anion-exchange chromatography, SMPH-activity was reco vered in two fractions of 40-45% acetonitril, Results demonstrate that the B. mori peptide showing the SMPH-activity in P. c-aureum is a dif ferent molecule than bombyxin. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts.