Abstract
BROWN1 has found that the precursor of the quinone responsible for the tanning of certain structures in Mytilus and of the egg capsule in Fasciola is probably an amino-acid or protein, in contrast to the alcohol-soluble phenol operative in the cockroach ootheca and the insect cuticle2,3,4. He suggests that the tanning mechanism may have evolved from a type where the phenolic hydroxyl groups of tyrosine become oxidized to the quinone without removal of the side-chains. It is therefore interesting to find, in myriapods, evidence which appears to indicate the retention of this suggested original mechanism of tanning.
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References
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BLOWER, G. Aromatic Tanning in the Myriapod Cuticle. Nature 165, 569 (1950). https://doi.org/10.1038/165569a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/165569a0
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