Affinities of certain quinone repellents for detergent-solubilized proteins from Periplaneta americana antennae

Certain quinones bound with high affinity to a receptor isolated in a detergent-soluble protein fraction from P. americana antennae. The relative affinities of 4 of these quinones were the same as their relative repellent potencies and degrees of induced polarographic half-wave potential shifts in the same proteins. Two other quinones also had high affinities for the receptor, but did not cause shifts in the half-wave potential, nor did they repel the insects. Explanations for the high affinities of certain quinones for the receptor in the absence of behavioral repellency are given.