FOUR FIGURES
Recently Wyatt and Kalf ('56) discovered that the hemolymph of a number of different insects contains relatively large amounts of the disaccharide trehalose (a-D-glucopyranosyl-a-D-glucoypyranoside) . This sugar, until then, was known to occur only in lower plants, especially in fungi. Previously Frerejacque ('41) and Duspiva ('54) had reported that the digestive tract of certain insects is able to split trehalose into glucose. I n a few preliminary experiments Frerejacque ('41) also showed the presence of a specific trehalase in insects.
Considering the apparent significance of trehalose in the hemolymph of insects, based on the large amounts found by Wyatt and Kalf ('56)' it was of interest to study the enzyme which acts specifically upon this sugar.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Thoracic muscle of the woodroach, Lezccophaea Pnaderae, which contains a very active trehalase was used f o r most of the experiments. The tissue was homogenized with a Potter-Elvehjem homogenizer. Then the homogenate was frozen because this treatment proved to increase the trehalase activity (table 2) probably by facilitating the access of the substrate to the enzyme. The reaction mixture was incubated at 37ยฐC Fellow of the Scientific Research Project of the International Cooperation Administration (OEEC-151).