The effects of nitrogen starvation on the concentration of free amino acids in Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Homoptera, Aphidae)

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Amino acid analyses performed on aphids taken directly from their host, and on aphids which had been nitrogen-starved for 24 and 48 hr, indicated that as the starvation period increased, the concentration of sixteen free amino acids decreases. Final concentrations were 50–70 per cent of the original values. Cystine increased 1100 per cent. In addition, twenty-eight of thirty-one unidentified ninhydrin-positive compounds increased in concentration as the starvation period continued. The aphids used in these experiments had been artificially fed on 18% sucrose solution.