Enzymatic Assays and Enzyme Histochemistry of Feeding on Tomato Leaves.

Enzymes play a key role in insect-plant relationships. For a better understanding of these interactions, we analyzed digestive enzymes. Here, we describe a detailed protocol for the detection of trypsin and papain-like enzymes in larvae by enzyme histochemistry. This assay uses frozen and unfixed samples to avoid the loss of enzymatic activity. We also describe a protocol for the quantification of trypsin and papain-like enzymes in the larvae of at different developmental instars.