[Ontogenic properties of peptidohydrolase activity in tissue extracts from Drosophila melanogaster].

The paper deals with the activity of peptidohydrolases splitting hemoglobin, casein and benzoylarginine-p-nitroanilide (BAPNA) in the ontogenesis of Drosophila mutant white apricot (wa). The enzymic activity is high in the intestine tissue at the larval stage, but it does not manifest itself at the pupal stage that may be due to inactivation of the studied enzymes by inhibitors found in extracts of the pupal tissues. The imaginal period of development is characterized by a low level of the peptidohydrolase activity in females and its absence in males in whose tissues there is a high content of inhibitors. The peptidohydrolase activity in extracts of larval tissues is established to be dependent completely on the enzyme being in the intestinal wall. Incomplete purification of this peptidohydrolase and its inhibitor is performed by means of ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. Some of their physicochemical properties are investigated.