Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 April 2009
The results of several experiments that included variation of the pH and concentration of the extracts and analysis of the role of enzymes separated from midgut fluid by electrophoresis indicated that hatching involved two or more proteolytic enzymes that digested the cytoplasmic layer and embryophore. Amylases from T. molitor and other sources were shown to play no part in hatching.A defined medium based on analyses of midgut fluid and containing trypsin, chymotrypsin and peptidases was shown to digest the embryophore and effect the release of hexacanths in a time comparable to that obtained with T. molitor extracts. The specificity of the enzymes attacking the cytoplasmic layer remains unknown.