Synonyms
Methyl farnesoates (MF).
General Information
A unique feature of insect and crustacean endocrinology is the presence of a class of hormones with a dihomosesquiterpenoid skeleton, the so-called juvenile hormones (JH), resp. methyl farnesoates (MF). These are lipophilic compounds that are degraded by specific (JH-epoxid-hydrolase, JH-esterase) and unspecific (esterases) enzymes. As in ecdysteroids, there exist congeneric hormones, JH 0 to JH III (Fig. 1), but in contrast to ecdysteroids, JH and MF are synthesised by the insects and crustaceans themselves. The synthesis, metabolism, titre regulation, transport, and physiological functions of this class of hormones is summarised in recent reviews. The distribution of juvenile hormones in other animal taxa has been investigated much less than that of ecdysteroids. There are reports on the presence of juvenile hormone activity in other invertebrates, but these reports are questionable for methodological reasons.
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© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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(2016). Juvenile Hormones. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43978-4_1649
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43978-4_1649
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-43977-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-43978-4
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