Glucogenic blood sugar formation in an insect Manduca sexta L.: asymmetric synthesis of trehalose from 13C enriched pyruvate.

Gluconeogenesis and blood sugar formation were examined in Manduca sexta, fed carbohydrate- and fat-free diets with varying levels of casein. De novo carbohydrate synthesis was examined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the 13C enrichment in blood trehalose and alanine derived from (2-(13)C)pyruvate and (2,3-(13)C(2))pyruvate administered to 5th instar larvae. Gluconeogenic flux and blood trehalose concentration were positively correlated with protein consumption. On all diets, the 13C distribution in trehalose was asymmetric, with C6 more highly enriched than C1. The C6/C1 13C enrichment ratio, however, decreased with increased protein consumption and gluconeogenic flux. Although the asymmetric 13C enrichment pattern in trehalose is consistent with pentose cycling via the pentose phosphate pathway following de novo synthesis, experiments employing [2,3-(13)C(2)]pyruvate demonstrated that pentose cycling is not detected in insects under these nutritional conditions. Analysis of the multiplet NMR signal structure in trehalose due to spin-spin coupling between adjacent 13C enriched carbons showed the absence of uncoupling expected by pentose phosphate pathway activity. Here we suggest that the asymmetric 13C distribution in trehalose results from a disequilibrium of the triose phosphate isomerase-catalyzed reaction.