Procuticle proteins and chitin-like material in the inner epicuticle of the Drosophila pupal cuticle

Abstract

The inner (protein) epicuticle of the pupal cuticle of Drosophila is shown to contain at least two hydrophobic proteins (19 and 21 kD) that are also present in the outer procuticle lamellae. An N-acetylglucosamine-containing carbohydrate is also present in the inner epicuticle. This represents the first attempt to characterize the non-lipid components of an insect epicuticle.