Amino acid composition of Macrocentrus thoracicus cocoon wall protein

Abstract

• 1.

  1. The cocoon protein of the braconid, apocrite, hymenopteran Macrocentrus thoracicus has been analysed for amino acids.

• 2.

  2. The amino acid composition confirms that the cocoon is made up of a structure protein with the general properties of the arthropod sild fibroins.

• 3.

  3. The implications of the amino acid composition for the interpretation of the molecular organization of the proteins in the cocoon wall, in terms of the X-ray diffraction diagram they give rise to, are commented upon.