Hydration and tanning in insect cuticle |
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| Institution: | 2. Infection Diseases Department, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Province, People''s Republic of China;3. Gastroenterology Department, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Province, People''s Republic of China;4. Gastroenterology Surgery Department, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Province, People''s Republic of China |
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| Abstract: | The water content of larval and puparial cuticle of Calliphora vomitoria has been measured under differing conditions using nuclear magnetic resonance, differential scanning calorimetry and simple gravimetry. On average, 2.5 molecules of water are associated with each amino acid side chain. This water is not displaced by tanning, even though tanning reduces the overall content of freezable water, suggesting that tanning agents do not interact with polar groups on the protein but increase overall hydrophobicity. This refutes normally accepted concepts of tanning by covalent cross linking. Additionally, covalent cross linking cannot account for the reduction in swellability of the cuticle on tanning. |
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