Degradation of an alkaloid pheromone from the pale-brown chafer, Phyllopertha diversa (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae), by an insect olfactory cytochrome P450

Citation
H. Wojtasek et Ws. Leal, Degradation of an alkaloid pheromone from the pale-brown chafer, Phyllopertha diversa (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae), by an insect olfactory cytochrome P450, FEBS LETTER, 458(3), 1999, pp. 333-336
Citations number
32
Categorie Soggetti
Biochemistry & Biophysics
Journal title
FEBS LETTERS
ISSN journal
00145793 → ACNP
Volume
458
Issue
3
Year of publication
1999
Pages
333 - 336
Database
ISI
SICI code
0014-5793(19990924)458:3<333:DOAAPF>2.0.ZU;2-5
Abstract
The pale-brown chafer, Phyllopertha diversa, utilizes an unusual alkaloid, 1,3-dimethyl-2,4-(1H,3H)-quinazolinedione as its sex pheromone, This compou nd is rapidly degraded in vitro by the antennal protein extracts from this scarab beetle. Demethylation at the N-1 position and hydroxylation of the a romatic ring have been identified as the major catabolic pathways, The enzy me responsible for the pheromone degradation is membrane-bound, requires NA D(P)H for activity and is sensitive to cytochrome P450 inhibitors, such as proadifen and metyrapone. The ability to metabolize this unusual pheromone was not detected in 12 species tested, indicating that the P450 system, spe cific to male P, diversa antennae, has evolved as a mechanism for olfactory signal inactivation. (C) 1999 Federation of European Biochemical Societies .