Purification and sequence determination of a yellow protein from sexually mature males of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria

A yellow protein from abdominal cuticle of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, has been purified and its amino acid sequence determined. The yel low color comes from bound carotene, the protein is only deposited in the e pidermis and cuticle of male locusts during their sexual maturation, and th e deposition is dependent upon a sufficiently high titer of juvenile hormon e. The sequence of the protein is atypical for a cuticular protein, but it has some similarity to a putative juvenile hormone binding protein from Man duca sexta. It is suggested that the protein is involved in the transport o f carotenes from internal tissues to epidermis and cuticle of the locust. ( C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.