INFLUENCE OF ACTIVE IMMUNIZATION ON MELANIZATION OF THE BLOOD OF WAX MOTH LARVAE

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Abstract
Larval blood of the wax moth, Galleria mellonella (L.), immunized against Pseudomonas aeruginosa does not melanize on exposure to air as does normal blood. Larval blood samples taken 20 to 24 hours after vaccination against either of the pathogens P. aeruginosa or Proteus mirabilis did not melanize; blood of insects vaccinated against the nonpathogenic Shigella dysenteriae strain K 629 or a nonpathogenic strain of Pseudomonas did melanize. Injection of nonspecific agents, such as sodium chloride or egg albumen, did not inhibit melanization. The oxidation–reduction potential of immune blood was markedly lower than that of normal blood. Enzymes from both normal and immune blood were precipitated with cold acetone. The enzyme preparations were nontoxic to normal larvae. Both normal and immune blood enzyme preparations produced melanin from tyrosine, though the immune blood enzyme acted more slowly. Sodium thioglycollate, ascorbic acid, benzoin oxime, and phenylthiourea each inhibited the melanization of normal blood in vitro but did not confer bactericidal activity. These inhibitors did not produce any change in the rate of melanization, bactericidal activity, or immune properties of the blood when injected into larvae.

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