Maida R, Ziegelberger G, Kaissling K E
Istituto di Industrie Agrarie, Pisa, Italy.
Neuroreport. 1995 Mar 27;6(5):822-4. doi: 10.1097/00001756-199503270-00029.
We studied in individual males of Antheraea polyphemus the activity of the sensillar esterase, a pheromone-degrading enzyme present in the sensillum lymph surrounding the olfactory receptor cells. In parallel, receptor potentials from single pheromone-sensitive sensilla trichodea were recorded. Our screening revealed a large variability of the enzyme activity in individuals with similar electrophysiological responses. In some moths the sensillar esterase was not detectable, i.e. present with 100-fold less activity. However, such variable esterase activity showed no correlation to the time course of the receptor potential. Thus, enzymatic pheromone degradation does not seem to be involved in the rapid pheromone inactivation at the end of the stimulus, but rather serves as the final pheromone sequestration step.
我们研究了多音天蚕雄性个体中感觉器酯酶的活性，该酶是一种存在于嗅觉受体细胞周围感觉器淋巴液中的信息素降解酶。同时，记录了单个对信息素敏感的毛形感觉器的感受器电位。我们的筛选发现，具有相似电生理反应的个体中，该酶活性存在很大差异。在一些蛾子中，感觉器酯酶无法检测到，即活性比正常情况低100倍。然而，这种可变的酯酶活性与感受器电位的时间进程并无关联。因此，酶促信息素降解似乎并不参与刺激结束时信息素的快速失活，而是作为信息素隔离的最终步骤。
