Abstract
Changes during development and tissue or organ specificities of α- and β-esterase zymograms of D. virilis were studied by thin layer agar gel electrophoresis. Quantitative changes in α- or β-esterase activities were also examined through the period from first instar larvae up to about the two-week old flies.
Both analyses indicated that the activity of α- and β-esterases was high in early third instar larvae and adult flies, remaining at low levels during the period around pupation, although slight differences in developmental profiles were found between α- and β-esterases. No specific bands were noticed in any particular developmental stage.
Localization among various body parts was not the same for α- and β-esterases. Both esterases appeared in hemolymph as well as in whole fly homogenate. But in the homogenate of gut only α-esterase bands were found and, in contrast, only β-esterases were detected in the zymogram of head homogenate.
