Pterobilin also called biliverdin IXγ in the Fischer nomenclature,[Chemical structure described at Pubchem] which is used by Graphium sarpedon.
Synthetic pathways
Pterobilin is a chemical precursor to sarpedobilin in the
of the fourth
instar of
G. sarpedon through a double
cyclisation of the central
of the adjacent nitrogens.
In the butterfly species
Pieris brassicae, it is produced starting with
acetate and then proceeding to
glycin, then δ-aminolevulinic acid, then coproporphyrinogen III, to protoporphyrin IX and finally into pterobilin.
[Rüdiger, W., Klose, W., Vuillaume, M., and Barbier, M. (1969). Experimentia, 25, 487-488.]
Pterobilin can be into phorcabilin and sarpedobilin in vitro.[Bois-Choussy, Michèle; Barbier, Michel (1978). Heterocycles 9, 677-690.]
Biochemical roles
Pterobilin in
P. brassicae[Barbier, Michel, Bergerard, J., Hurpin, B., and Vuillaume, M. (1970). Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences Paris, 271, 342-345.][Vuillaume, M., and Bergerard, J. (1978). Chronobiologia, 5, 286-292.][Vuillaume, M., and Dattée, Y. (1980). Archives de zoologie expérimentale et générale, 121, 159-164.] is thought to play a role in
photoreception for the different instars for metering
diapause.
In adult
P. brassicae butterflies the compound is thought to have a role in
heat transfer,
[Allyn, A. C., Barbier, Michel, Bois-Choussy, Michèle, and Rothschild, M. (1981). Antenna, Londres, 29-31.] as the
where pterobilin accumulates differ morphologically in a way that would facilitate photoreception.
See also
External links
