Insect Protein Synthesis in Frog Cells : The Translation of Honey Bee Promelittin Messenger RNA in Xenopus Oocytes

Venom glands of young queen bees (Apia mellifera) synthesize the toxic peptide melittin as their main product. Meli the 17 amino acid residues identified correspond exa&ly with sequences found in promelittin from venom gland cells. These results yield fin81 proof that injected messenger RNAs c8n be read with great fidelity. The translation of a messenger from an insect gland shows that at least some of the translational systems within the oocyte are neither cell-type nor phylum .apecific. It, seems likely that the oocyte can be used to assay any kind of eukaryotic mRNA. The conversion of promelittin to m&tin could not, be detected in oocytes. Moreover, the promelittin synthesized in oocytes differs at the carboxyl end from the product made in gland cells, for the latter terminates with glutamine amide while the oocyte material probably ends with an amino acid with a free a-carboxyl group. Some of the post-translational modifications characteristic of gland cells thus do not seem to take place in oocytes.