Protein synthesis in imaginal disks of Plodia interpunctella during development in vivo and in vitro.

Wing imaginal disks were dissected from larvae of Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) at various stages during the larval-pupal transformation. The wing-disk proteins separated by electrophoresis and scanned with a densitometer changed quantitatively but not qualitatively during development in vivo. Treatment of wing disks in vitro with beta-ecdysone resulted in a 2-fold increase in synthesis of proteins after only 2 hr incubation. The maximum rate of protein synthesis was reached 16 hr after treatment with hormone. The pattern of proteins separated by electrophoresis of wing disks that were incubated in vitro with beta-ecdysone did not change qualitatively. The major features of protein synthesis during wing-disk development in vivo were similar to those observed during beta-ecdysone-induced development in vitro.