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Juvenile hormone (JH) Ill esterase and JH I l l epoxide hydrolase activity was found in the integument, midgut, fat body, and brain during last instar development of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. JH esterase activity was primarily located in the cytosol in these tissues while the majority of the JH epoxide hydrolase activity was found in the microsomes. A prewandering (on day 3) and postwandering (on day 8) peak in plasma JH Ill esterase activity occurs in the last instar of gate I M. sexta. The JH esterase activity profile in integument, midgut, fat body, and brain followed a similar pattern to that of the plasma. The only exception to this was the absence of the postwandering, prepupal (on day 8) JH esterase peak in the fat body. The topical application of the juvenoid, (RS)-methoprene, failed to induce fat body JH esterase activity but increased activity in the plasma, integument, midgut, and brain in M. sexta prepupae. These results indicate that the source of plasma JH esterase activity is not always the fat body as previously hypothesized. The developmental profile of tissue JH epoxide hydrolase activity was also similar to that of J H esterase suggesting that both enzymes may be regulated partly by the same factors and that JH epoxide hydrolase may also have an important, previously unrecognized functional role in JH regulation and insect metamorphosis. Multiple isoelectric forms of tissue-specific JH esterases and JH epoxide hydrolases were found in integument, midgut, fat body, and brain. The JH esterases in these tissues had isoelectric points more acidic than that for plasma. Tissue a-naphthyl acetate esterase, developmental profiles, and inhibitor sensitivity to 3-(octylthio)-l , I ,l-trifluoropropan-2-one differed sig-

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Assays for the Classification of Two Types of Esterases: Carboxylic Ester Hydrolase and Phosphoric Triester Hydrolase (Douglas D. Anspaugh and Michael Roe, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina). This unit describes assays that quantitate two types of esterase the carboxylic ester hydrolases and the phosphoric triester hydrolases. Carboxylic ester hydrolases include the B-esterases, which are inhibited by organophosphorus compounds. Among the phosphoric triester hydrolases is aryldialkylphosphatase, which has been called A-esterase or paraoxonase due to its ability to oxidize paraoxon and other organophosphates. These assays are colorimetric and miniaturized for rapid simultaneous testing of multiple, small-volume samples in a microtiter plate format. There is also a discussion of the history of esterase nomenclature and the reasons why this large group of enzymes is so difficult to classify.

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