scholarly journals THE α-GLYCEROPHOSPHATE CYCLE IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

1974 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 864-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. O'Brien ◽  
Yoshio Shimada

"Null" mutations previously isolated at the αGpdh-1 locus of Drosophila melanogaster, because of disruption of the energy-producing α-glycerophosphate cycle, severely restrict the flight ability and relative viability of affected individuals. Two "null" alleles, αGpdh-1BO-1-4, and αGpdh-1BO-1-5, when made hemizygous with a deficiency of the αGpdh-1 locus, Df(2L)GdhA, were rendered homozygous by recombination with and selective elimination of the Df(2L)GdhA chromosome. After over 25 generations, a homozygous αGpdh-1BO-1-4 stock regained the ability to fly despite the continued absence of measurable αGPDH activity. Inter se heterozygotes of three noncomplementing αGpdh-1 "null" alleles and the "adapted" αGpdh-1BO-1-4 homozygotes were examined for metabolic enzymatic activities related to the energy-producing and pyridine nucleotide-regulating functions of the α-glycerophosphate cycle in Drosophila. The enzyme functions tested included glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, cytoplasmic and soluble malate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, mitochondrial NADH oxidation, oxidative phosphorylation, and respiratory control with the substrates α-glycerophosphate, succinate, and pyruvate. These activities in any of the mutant genotypes in early adult life were indistinguishable from those in the wild type. There was, however, a premature deterioration and atrophy of the ultrastructural integrity of flight muscle sarcosomes observed by electron microscopy in the "null" mutants. These observations were correlated with a decrease in state 3 mitochondrial oxidation with α-glycerophosphate, succinate, and pyruvate, as well as with loss of respiratory control in adults as early as 2 wk after eclosion. Such observations, which normally are seen in aged dipterans, were accompanied by premature mortality of the mutant heterozygotes. The adapted αGpdh-1BO-1-4 was identical with wild type in each of the aging characters with the single exception of lowered rates of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation.

Development ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 1063-1075
Author(s):  
M.C. Lienhard ◽  
R.F. Stocker

The development of the sensory neuron pattern in the antennal disc of Drosophila melanogaster was studied with a neuron-specific monoclonal antibody (22C10). In the wild type, the earliest neurons become visible 3 h after pupariation, much later than in other imaginal discs. They lie in the center of the disc and correspond to the neurons of the adult aristal sensillum. Their axons join the larval antennal nerve and seem to establish the first connection towards the brain. Later on, three clusters of neurons appear in the periphery of the disc. Two of them most likely give rise to the Johnston's organ in the second antennal segment. Neurons of the olfactory third antennal segment are formed only after eversion of the antennal disc (clusters t1-t3). The adult pattern of antennal neurons is established at about 27% of metamorphosis. In the mutant lozenge3 (lz3), which lacks basiconic antennal sensilla, cluster t3 fails to develop. This indicates that, in the wild type, a homogeneous group of basiconic sensilla is formed by cluster t3. The possible role of the lozenge gene in sensillar determination is discussed. The homeotic mutant spineless-aristapedia (ssa) transforms the arista into a leg-like tarsus. Unlike leg discs, neurons are missing in the larval antennal disc of ssa. However, the first neurons differentiate earlier than in normal antennal discs. Despite these changes, the pattern of afferents in the ectopic tarsus appears leg specific, whereas in the non-transformed antennal segments a normal antennal pattern is formed. This suggests that neither larval leg neurons nor early aristal neurons are essential for the outgrowth of subsequent afferents.


Genetics ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-494
Author(s):  
G Lavorgna ◽  
C Malva ◽  
A Manzi ◽  
S Gigliotti ◽  
F Graziani

Abstract The abnormal oocyte mutation (2;44) originates in the wild: it confers no visible phenotype on homozygous abo males or females, but homozygous abo females produce defective eggs and the probability of their developing into adults is much lower than that of heterozygous sister females. We isolated by chromosome walking 200 kb of DNA from region 32. This paper reports that a restriction enzyme site polymorphism analysis in wild type and mutant stocks allowed us to identify a DNA rearrangement present only in stocks carrying the abo mutation. The rearrangement is caused by a DNA insert on the abo chromosome in region 32E which, by restriction map and sequence analysis, was identified as copia-like blood transposon. The transposon, in strains that had remained in abo homozygous conditions for several generations and had lost the abo maternal-effect, was no longer present in region 32E. Certain features of the abo mutation, discussed in the light of this finding, may be ascribed to the nature of the particular allele studied.


Genetics ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-138
Author(s):  
Stephen J O'Brien ◽  
Ross J Macintyre

ABSTRACT Seven alleles of the α-Glycerophosphate dehydrogenase-1 (αGpdh-1) locus of Drosophila melanogaster have been described. These include two naturally occurring electrophoretic variants, one EMS-induced electrophoretic variant, and four EMS-induced "null" or "zero" mutants. With the electrophoretic variants, the locus was mapped to II-20.5 ± 2.5. A complementation matrix was prepared utilizing the null mutants. Three of the four mutants and a deletion of the locus (Grell 1967) exhibit dosage dependency. The dosage independent mutant exhibits complementation with two of the other null alleles. Flies genetically deficient in α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase are fertile, but their relative viability is severely diminished. Such flies also lose the ability to sustain flight, an observation consistent with the enzyme's function in energy production. The levels of mitochondrial α-glycerophosphate oxidase, measured in flies genetically deficient in the cytoplasmic enzyme, were normal.


Genetics ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-368
Author(s):  
Alan J Katz

ABSTRACT Results are presented of further analyses of the significant effects of reciprocal crosses reported by KATZ and CARDELLINO(1978) in regard to viability indices of wild-type second chromosome heterozygotes. The observed differences between reciprocal crosses can be explained by the existence of reduced transmission frequencies of the wild-type homologue from Pm/+ and Cy/+ paternal parents. Mean estimates of transmission frequencies from Pm/+ and cy/+ males in California and Japan populations are significantly less than the Mendelian expectation of 1/2. The transmission frequencies of +i chromosomes from Pm/+i and Cy/+i males are also found to be positively correlated in the California and pooled populations, suggesting that the degree of distortion is primarily due to the +i chromosome rather than to Cy or Pm. A sufficient estimator of relative viability that is independent of distorted transmission frequencies is derived for use in the Cy/Pm technique of viability estimation.


Genetics ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-191
Author(s):  
B J Taylor

Abstract A pair of muscles span the fifth abdominal segment of male but not female Drosophila melanogaster adults. To establish whether genes involved in the development of other sexually dimorphic tissues controlled the differentiation of sex-specific muscles, flies mutant for five known sex-determining genes were examined for the occurrence of male-specific abdominal muscles. Female flies mutant for alleles of Sex-lethal, defective in sex determination, or null alleles of transformer or transformer-2 are converted into phenotypic males that formed male-specific abdominal muscles. Both male and female flies, when mutant for null alleles of doublesex, develop as nearly identical intersexes in other somatic characteristics. Male doublesex flies produced the male-specific muscles, whereas female doublesex flies lacked them. Female flies, even when they inappropriately expressed the male-specific form of doublesex mRNA, failed to produce the male-specific muscles. Therefore, the wild-type products of the genes Sex-lethal, transformer and transformer-2 act to prevent the differentiation of male-specific muscles in female flies. However, there is no role for the genes doublesex or intersex in either the generation of the male-specific muscles in males or their suppression in females.


1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Makni ◽  
Mohamed Marrakchi ◽  
Nicole Prud'Homme

SummaryIn Drosophila melanogaster up to two thirds of the rDNA genes contain insertion sequences of two types in the 28S coding region. Comparison of the ribosomal insertion transcripts in the wild type and in two bobbed mutants reared at two temperatures showed that the level of type I transcripts is dependent on both the number of genes with type I insertions in the bobbed loci and the intensity of bobbed phenotype. Importantly, a long transcript of 8·7 kb hybridized to the ribosomal probe, the INS I probe and also to the restriction fragment of the rDNA downstream of the point of insertion was found in one bobbed mutant. This result and also those from sandwich hybridization indicate that some interrupted ribosomal genes are functional.


1961 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 260-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irmgard Ziegler ◽  
Helene A. Nathan

A tetrahydrobiopterin-derivative and a yellow pteridine, accumulated in the eyes of the sepia mutant of Drosophila melanogaster, are very active growth factors for Crithidia fasciculata. Of the three additional pteridines found in the wild-type D. melanogaster, a dark red pteridine, neodrosopterin, is very active whereas a brick-red pteridine, drosopterin, is moderately active and isodrosopterin, probably the isomer of drosopterin is inactive. The relationships of the results of the growth experiments to the naturally-occurring eye pteridines and to the basic biopterin structure are discussed.


1987 ◽  
Vol 196 (8) ◽  
pp. 473-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Hartenstein ◽  
Eberhard Rudloff ◽  
Jose A. Campos -Ortega

Genetics ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-148
Author(s):  
Alan J Katz ◽  
Ricardo A Cardellino

ABSTRACT We examine the assumption of "dominance" with regard to viability of the Cy and Pm marker chromosomes in D. melanogaster. This assumption is often invoked for the extraction of wild-type second chromosomes from natural populations and for the calculation of relative viability indices. Significant genotypic variances for viability are found among both C y / f i and P m / f i heterozygotes in California and Japanese populations. The magnitude of the Pm/+i genotypic variance is substantially less than that of the Cy/+j heterozygotes (less than one half). Significant reciprocal effects are also found to influence Cy/+j, Pm/+i and + J f j viabilities. We conclude that viability indices of heterozygotes based on the Curly method are biased. We suggest that viability indices in the future be expressed relative to the viability of the Cy/Pm genotype (Curly-Plum method) or possibly that of the Pm/+i genotype (Plum method).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Cortot ◽  
Jean-Pierre Farine ◽  
Jean-François Ferveur ◽  
Claude Everaerts

Abstract The cuticle of all insects is covered with hydrocarbons which have multiple functions. Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) basically serve to protect insects against environmental harm and to reduce dehydration. In many species, some CHCs also act as pheromones. CHCs have been intensively studied in Drosophila species and more specially in D. melanogaster. In this species, flies produce about 40 CHCs forming a complex sex- and species-specific bouquet. The quantitative and qualitative pattern of the CHC bouquet was characterized during the first days of adult life but remains unexplored in aging flies. Here, we characterized CHCs during the whole—or a large period of—adult life in males and females of several wild type and transgenic lines. Both types of lines included standard and variant CHC profiles. Some of the genotypes tested here showed very dramatic and unexpected aging-related variation based on their early days profile. This study provides a concrete dataset to better understand the mechanisms underlying the establishment and maintenance of CHCs on the fly cuticle. It could be useful to determine physiological parameters, including age and response to climate variation, in insects collected in the wild.


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