Dieldrin transport in the insect: an examination of Gerolt's hypothesis

Abstract

[ 14C]-Dieldrin was detected in the hemolymph of adult male Periplaneta americana and P. brunnea 2.5 hr after an acetone solution of radiodieldrin (RD) was applied to the pronotum. Sephadex thin-layer gel filtration (TLG) of cell-free hemolymph (HL) from cockroaches to which RD was applied, and TLG of HL to which RD was added directly, indicated that dieldrin binds to a protein (s) of ca. 18,900 mol wt and two groups of proteins of mol wt ≥ 160,000. The capacity of Periplaneta HL for RD at 22°C was to at least 57 μ M, but the highest concentration of RD detected in HL after topical application was 29.9 μ M. The hemocytes contained about 37% of the dieldrin in whole cockroach hemolymph. When isolated cockroach legs were perfused with HL containing protein-bound RD, autoradiography of the dissected legs revealed 14C counts in the tissues. These findings are consistent with the translocation of topical dieldrin by hemolymph, but do not eliminate the possibility of translocation via the tracheal system.