Ethanol tolerance, alcohol-dehydrogenase activity and Adh allozymes in Drosophila melanogaster

Genetica ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. K. Ziolo ◽  
P. A. Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase ◽  
Dehydrogenase Activity ◽  
Ethanol Tolerance ◽  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase Activity

scholarly journals Alcohol dehydrogenase activity in Drosophila melanogaster: a quantitative character

1975 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase ◽  
Dehydrogenase Activity ◽  
Structural Gene ◽  
Genetic Background ◽  
Quantitative Character ◽  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase Activity ◽  
Activity Modifiers ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Adh Activity

SUMMARYAlcohol dehydrogenase activity in Drosophila melanogaster may be considered as a quantitative character, since it shows many features typically associated with such traits. Although strains with the electrophoretically fast phenotype generally have activities greater than those with the slow phenotype, presumably reflecting differences in the nucleotide sequences of the structural alleles, within each electrophoretic class there is considerable variation in activity. The expression of the structural gene, in terms of ADH activity, is to some extent regulated by its genetic background. Strains homozygous for particular structural alleles respond to divergent directional selection for ADH activity. Modifiers have been located to the X, second and third chromosomes.

scholarly journals Opposing Modes of Selection on the Alcohol Dehydrogenase Locus in Drosophila Melanogaster

1980 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
JG Oakeshott ◽  
JB Gibson ◽  
PR Anderson ◽  
A Champ
Keyword(s):  
Aqueous Solution ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase ◽  
Dehydrogenase Activity ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
The Third ◽  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase Activity ◽  
Survival Differences

Three experiments have been carried out which show that exogenous environments of ethanol impose selection on the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) locus of D. melanogaster. This locus is widely polymorphic for two alleles, AdhF and Adhs, and AdhF generally produces about twice as much alcohol dehydrogenase activity as Adhs. In the first experiment, AdhF IAdhF and AdhF/Adhs flies survived equally often and Adhs/Adhs flies less frequently after exposure for 7 days to medium impregnated with ethanol. The same pattern of survival differences was found in the second experiment in which flies were exposed for 1 day to an aqueous solution of ethanol and sucrose. In contrast, in the third experiment survival was scored after exposure for 45-min to ethanol fumes, and Adhs/ Adhs flies survived more often than AdhF/Adhs, both these genotypes surviving more frequently than Adh F / Adh F. We doubt whether anyone of the three experiments by itself adequately represents the ecology of natural populations of D. melanogaster exposed to ethanol. It is likely that mixtures of the three experimental conditions approximate more closely the natural environments and therefore we suggest that, overall, selection might favour intermediate levels of alcohol dehydrogenase activity, producing a net advantage for heterozygotes at the Adh locus.

Rapid spread of a P element/Adh gene construct through experimental populations of Drosophila melanogaster

Genome ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1169-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Meister ◽  
T. A. Grigliatti
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Dehydrogenase Activity ◽  
P Element ◽  
P Elements ◽  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase Activity ◽  
Adh Gene ◽  
Experimental Populations

Transposable elements may be potential tools for the dispersal of engineered DNA through target insect populations. The utility of this hypothesis is predicated on the ability of transposable elements carrying a large DNA insert to rapidly disperse through a population. In addition, the inserted DNA must be replicated with a high degree of fidelity during this dispersal. We have monitored the ability of a transposable element with an inserted gene to spread through experimental populations and tested whether the passenger gene retains its ability to encode an active protein. Several Drosophila melanogaster laboratory populations were initiated with female flies that were null for alcohol dehydrogenase activity and contained no P elements. Most of the females were mated to males of the same strain; however, 1 or 10% of the females were mated to males from a strain that had previously been transformed with a helper P element and a P element/Adh gene construct. The dispersal of P elements to new genomes was monitored at each generation by randomly selecting females and performing DNA hybridization assays on dissected ovarian tissue. In addition, each female was tested for alcohol dehydrogenase activity using a simple histochemical assay. We find that, despite an approximate threefold increase in size, the P element constructs containing a functioning gene are still capable of rapid dispersal through the experimental populations. We also show that many of the inserted Adh genes still encode an active product.Key words: P element, transformation, Adh, transposable element.

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