MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE INHIBITORY MYOTROPIC PEPTIDE LEUCOMYOSUPPRESSIN

The myoinhibitory peptide leucomyosuppressin (LMS) (pQDVDHVFLRFamide) has been identified and characterized at the molecular level in the co ckroach Diploptera punctata through analysis of the organization of bo th brain cDNA and genomic DNA. Processing of the precursor predicted f rom DNA sequence would release a single LMS peptide. The organization of the precursor appears to be conserved in other insects and may refl ect a functional organization for this subfamily of extended FLRFamide s. The expression of the LMS gene appears in numerous cells of the par s-intercerebralis of the cockroach protocerebrum as well as in numerou s endocrine cells of the midgut. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.