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Mechanism of Sclerotin Formation: the Participation of a Beta-Glucoside

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Abstract

SCLEROTIN, a skeletal material commonly found in invertebrate animals1, was shown by Pryor2 to consist of protein, hardened by reaction with an o-quinone. He gave an account of the formation of the ootheca of the cockroach, Blatta orientalis, which is composed of sclerotin. The ootheca is derived from the secretions of the two colleterial glands, and it is the larger left gland that secretes the structural protein. Pryor found that a phenolic substance, later shown to be protocatechuic (3 : 4-dihydroxybenzoic) acid3, was abundantly present in the fluid within the ootheca, and he attributed the secretion of this phenol to the right gland. There was evidence for supposing that this oxidation to a quinone was enzymatic.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology,

    P. C. J. BRUNET & P. W. KENT

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Oxford

    P. C. J. BRUNET & P. W. KENT

Authors
  1. P. C. J. BRUNET
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  2. P. W. KENT
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BRUNET, P., KENT, P. Mechanism of Sclerotin Formation: the Participation of a Beta-Glucoside. Nature 175, 819–820 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1038/175819a0

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