Youji Sakagami

Isolation and structure of the bacterial sex pheromone, cAD1, that induces plasmid transfer in Streptococcus faecalis

The Streptococcus faecalis sex pheromone cAD1, which is involved in the conjugative transfer of the hemolysin plasmid pAD1, has been isolated and its structure determined. Its M r is 818 and its amino acid sequence is H‐Leu‐Phe‐Ser‐Leu‐Val‐Leu‐Ala‐Gly‐OH. A replicate of the pheromone synthesized by the liquid phase method showed the same biological activity and Chromatographie behavior as the isolated cAD1. Pheromone activity was detectable at a concentration of ~ 5 × 10−11 M.

Bombyx Eclosion Hormone

Adult eclosion of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, occurs during a specific period of the day under the control of eclosion hormone (EH). Bombyx EH was extracted from the pupal and adult brains (Fugo, et al., 1982), and also the embryos of B. mori (Chen, et al., 1986). In 1985, Bombyx EH was first isolated from the pharate adult heads of B. mori (Nagasawa, et al., 1985). Recently the entire amino acid sequence of Bombyx EH was determined as shown in Fig. 1 through the combination of sequencing the isolated Bombyx EH (Kono, et al., 1987) and cloning the Bombyx EH gene. A monoclonal antibody against the synthetic peptide corresponding to the carboxyl-terminal 13 amino acid residues of Bombyx EH was prepared (Kono, et al., in press).