Emp-AKH is a member of the large adipokinetic hormone (AKH) family of peptides. This peptide family appears to occur in the corpora cardiaca of all insect species and its members are involved in regulating substrate mobilisation. The secondary structure of Emp-AKH has been studied in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles by comparing data obtained from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and molecular dynamics simulations. The lowest energy conformer obtained in this study has a turn consisting of residues 5-8 and a tail consisting of the first five residues., Igor Z. Zubrzycki, Gerd Gäde, and Lit
There is much current discussion about the factors that control the distribution and abundance of animal species, particularly at the edges of their range. The significance of temperature for survival and development is compared in two closely related psyllid species (Craspedolepta nebulosa and C. subpunctata) living on the same host plant (Chamerion angustifolium) (Onagraceae) but displaying different distributions along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients. The following measurements were made at critical periods during the life cycle (a) winter supercooling points (SCPs), (b) tolerance of short (1 min) and long term (1-25) days exposure to sub-zero temperatures above the SCP, (c) tolerance of short term exposure to high spring/summer temperatures and (d) comparative field development rates among species and sites during the early critical part of the growing season. Successful completion of the life cycle is related to heat availability during the growing season. This appears to limit the distribution of the Craspedolepta species, rather than their survival response to thermal extremes. No significant differences were found between the two species in the supercooling point or in their long and short term survival responses at low or high temperatures., Jeremy M. Bird, Ian D. Hodkinson, and Lit