SUCCINIC DEHYDROGENASE ACTIVITY IN DIITERENT ORGANS 

 OF THE SAWFLY CEPHALGIA ABIETIS L. DURING DIAPAUSE 

 AND DEVELOPMENT 



Активность сукциндегидразы в различных органах Cephalcia abietis L. в течение 

 развития и диапаузы 



К. SLAM А 



(Entomological Laboratory of Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, 

 Praha, Czechoslovakia) 



Succinic dehydrogenase plays an important role in the respiratory processes 

 of most living cells taking part in the chain of reactions in oxidation of 

 fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Great attention has been paid to the rese- 

 arch of activity of this enzyme in insects. It was ascertained that the highest 

 actiwty of succinic dehydrogenease in insects is connected, as a rule, with 

 the period of locomotory activity and growth, while in the rest period, e. g. 

 diapause, the activity of dehj^drogenases is reduced to the lowest values in ac- 

 cordance with the total metabolism (see Agrell 1949, Ludwig and Barsa 1955, 

 1956, 1958, Bodine, Lu and West 1952, Sulkowski andWojtczak 1958, 

 Ushatinskaya 1958). Most authors working by the classical Thunberg 

 method made use of homogenates of the whole body or of individual body 

 parts which made very difficult the precise localisation of dehydrogenases 

 activity. 



In these last years tetrazolium salts have come into general use as indicators 

 of biological redox reactions and enzymatic activity for the reasons of being 

 of the few organic compounds coloured in the reduced and celourless in the 

 oxidized state (Anderson 1955, Bodine and Fitzgerald 1949, Jensen, 

 Sacks and Baldaulski 1951, Harnisch 1957, etc.) The reduction of colourless 

 and in water soluble tetrazolium salts give origin to the coloured and 

 in water insoluble formazans. In presence of suitable substrates the tetra- 

 zolium salts serve as acceptors of hydrogen ions for estabUshment of activity 

 of the dehydrogenase system. This method is convenient not only from the 

 theoretical point of view (Cooperstein, Lazarow and Kurfess 1950), 

 but also because of making possible the study and localisation of dehydro- 

 genases on tissue section and fragments (Seligman and Rutemburg 1951, 

 Pearson and Defendi, 1954, Eл^ans 1957). The formazans insoluble in 

 Avater can be extracted into a suitable organic dissolvent and used for the 

 colorimetric determination (Kun and Abood 1949, Bodine and Fitzge- 

 rald 1949, Bodine, Lu and West 1952, Glock and Jensen 1953, Anderson, 

 March and Met calf 1954). Another advantage of this method is that the 



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