Juvenile hormone biosynthesis: homomevalonate and mevalonate synthesis by insect corpus allatum enzymes

Abstract

Centrifuged homogenates of corpora allata from Manduca sexta convert [1-¹⁴C]acetyl-CoA and non-labelled propionyl-CoA into labelled (3R)-mevalonate and chiral homomevalonate; when [1-¹⁴C]propionyl-CoA and non-labelled acetyl-CoA are used as substrates, labelled homomevalonate is synthesized, but not labelled mevalonate.