scholarly journals STUDIES IN BIOCHEMICAL GENETICS IN DROSOPHILA

1948 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude A. Villee

The metabolism of the imaginal discs of wild type, miniature, vestigial, and four-jointed varieties of Drosophila was investigated using the Cartesian diver ultramicrorespirometer. Wild type and vestigial wing disc respiration is inhibited by cyanide and azide and thus is mediated by an iron or copper porphyrin system, presumable cytochrome-cytochrome oxidase. Respiration is also inhibited by certain hydroxynaphthoquinones, believed to inactivate some enzyme between cytochromes b and c. The respiration of the vestigial and miniature wing discs is increased to normal by the addition of ascorbic acid and to a lesser extent by p-phenylenediamine and hydroquinone, hence the cytochrome oxidase and cytochrome c systems of vestigial and miniature wing discs are normal and the effects of these genes are on enzymes below cytochrome c in the respiratory chain. The respiratory enzymes of the developing imaginal discs of insects are similar to those of a wide variety of cells from bacteria to mammals. The correlation of these biochemical findings with embryological studies of the discs is discussed.

1961 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1131-1148 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. White ◽  
G. A. Ledingham

Electron transport to oxygen in a particulate fraction from uredospores of Puccinia graminis var. tritici occurs through a series of carriers similar to those of other fungi and higher plants.Experiments with various enzyme inhibitors and measurements of the oxygen affinity of respiration have shown that cytochrome oxidase mediates the final step in the sequence of electron transfer. The enzyme was localized in a fraction sedimenting at 20,000 g and was typically inhibited by cyanide, azide, and CO-dark, the latter inhibition being light-reversible. Other enzymes present were succinic-cytochrome c reductase, DPNH- and TPNH-cytochrome c reductase, dye reductase, malic dehydrogenase, isocitric dehydrogenase, and glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase. Particulates failed to oxidize DPNH unless an electron acceptor was added. An increase in the activity of several of the respiratory enzymes was noted upon spore germination.Succinic-cytochrome c reductase was only partially sensitive to Antimycin A, HOQNO, and the naphthoquinone, SN 5949. These compounds markedly inhibited a labile portion of the DPNH-cytochrome c reductase activity but had little effect on the stable activity remaining in aged particles. Menadione, but not vitamin K1, stimulated electron transfer. Antimycin A and SN 5949 virtually blocked spore respiration suggesting a "Slater-type" factor in the intact pathway of oxidation.


1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack A. Kornblatt ◽  
D. I. C. Kells ◽  
G. R. Williams

1. The "oxygenated" form of cytochrome oxidase has been generated by treatment of the enzyme with ascorbic acid.2. "Oxygenated oxidase" so generated is stable over long periods (24 h).3. Sedimentation velocity experiments have shown the "oxygenated oxidase to be a less compact molecule than the oxidized.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1836-1845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandhya P. Koushika ◽  
Matthias Soller ◽  
Kalpana White

ABSTRACT Although the Drosophila melanogaster erect wing(ewg) gene is broadly transcribed in adults, an unusual posttranscriptional regulation involving alternative and inefficient splicing generates a 116-kDa EWG protein in neurons, while protein expression elsewhere or of other isoforms is below detection at this stage. This posttranscriptional control is important, as broad expression of EWG can be lethal. In this paper, we show that ELAV, a neuron-specific RNA binding protein, is necessary to regulate EWG protein expression in ELAV-null eye imaginal disc clones and that ELAV is sufficient for EWG expression in wing disc imaginal tissue after ectopic expression. Further, analysis of EWG expression elicited from intron-containing genomic transgenes and cDNA minitransgenes in ELAV-deficient eye discs shows that this regulation is dependent on the presence of ewg introns. Analyses of the ewg splicing patterns in wild-type and ELAV-deficient eye imaginal discs and in wild-type and ectopic ELAV-expressing wing imaginal discs, show that certain neuronal splice isoforms correspond to ELAV levels. The data presented in this paper are consistent with a mechanism in which ELAV increases the splicing efficiency ofewg transcripts in alternatively spliced regions rather than with a mechanism in which stability of specific splice forms is enhanced by ELAV. Additionally, we report that ELAV promotes a neuron-enriched splice isoform of Drosophila armadillotranscript. ELAV, however, is not involved in all neuron-enriched splice events.


Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Honglun Bi ◽  
Xia Xu ◽  
Xiaowei Li ◽  
Yong Zhang ◽  
Yongping Huang ◽  
...  

The domesticated silkworm is an economically important insect that is widely used as a lepidopteran insect model. Although somatic sex determination in the silkworm is well characterized, germline sex determination is not. Here, we used the transgenic-based CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system to study the function of the Ovo gene in Bombyx mori. BmOvo is the homolog of a factor important in germline sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster. BmOvo mutants had abnormally shaped eggs that were disordered in the ovarioles, and gonad development was abnormal. Interestingly, wing discs and wings did not develop properly, and most of the mutants failed to eclose. Gene expression analyses by qRT-PCR showed that BmOvo gene was highly expressed in the wing disc and epidermis. Genes involved in the WNT signaling pathway and wing development genes BmWCP10 and BmE74 were downregulated in the BmOvo mutants when compared with wild-type animals. These results demonstrate that the BmOvo gene product plays an important role in wing metamorphosis. Thus, this study provides new insights into the multiple functions of BmOvo beyond germline sex determination.


1972 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. King ◽  
Gabriel C. Godman ◽  
Donald W. King

Exposure of HeLa and L cells to chloramphenicol causes a progressive dose-dependent decrease in cytochrome oxidase and succinate-cytochrome c reductase activities, concomitant with an increase in the amount of cytochrome c. At 2–3 days, the specific activities of the enzymes have fallen to about one-half of control values; the mitochondria appear swollen. By day 5, enzyme activities are about one-quarter of control values; the mitochondria are more swollen, with disorientation and disintegration of cristae. By day 6–8, after three generations, growth has stopped, enzyme activities are approximately the same as on day 5, and cytochrome c content has reached 170% of control value. Mitochondria show severe changes, cristae being affected more than peripheral inner membrane. The number of profiles continues to be nearly normal. After 30 days, cytochrome oxidase activity remains low but now there are mitochondria in intermediate and condensed configuration. There is a gradual accumulation in the cytoplasm of smooth membrane elements. If chloramphenicol is removed, cells recover. Ethidium bromide treatment for up to 8 days yields results virtually identical to those obtained with chloramphenicol. Cells treated with 10-4 M KCN show a decrease in cytochrome oxidase activity to about one-third of control value and an elevated amount of cytochrome c. Only a small number of mitochondria appear damaged. Autochthonous mitochondrial syntheses appear to be essential for the organization of the cristae. When cytochrome oxidase activity is impaired, a regulatory mechanism for cytochrome biosynthesis geared to mitochondrial function may be lacking, resulting in an increase in cytochrome c content.


1959 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1185-1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Ghiretti ◽  
Anna Ghiretti-Magaldi ◽  
Luisa Tosi

The classic spectrophotometric method for identification and characterization of respiratory enzymes has been used for the study of the cytochrome system of Aplysia. Particles have been prepared from the buccal mass and the gizzard muscles. Difference spectra taken on isolated particle suspensions show the presence of a complete cytochrome system composed of five components: cytochrome a, b, c, c1, and a3. As indicated by the peaks of the sharp absorption bands of their reduced forms, they are very similar to the cytochromes of mammals and yeast. Cytochrome a3 has been identified as the terminal oxidase of Aplysia muscle by means of the spectrophotometric study of its carbon monoxide compound. Further evidence for the presence of a cytochrome system in Aplysia was obtained by assays of the catalytic activities of the isolated particles: succinic dehydrogenase, cytochrome oxidase, DPNH cytochrome c reductase. The cytochrome oxidase activity was strongly inhibited by carbon monoxide in the dark; the inhibition was totally relieved by light. Cytochrome c has been extracted and purified from muscle tissue. Its spectrum is almost identical with that of the mammalian pigment both in the oxidized and reduced forms. From the hepatopancreas a new respiratory enzyme has been extracted which has many physical and chemical properties in common with cytochrome h from terrestrial snails.


Author(s):  
J.S. Ryerse

Gap junctions are intercellular junctions found in both vertebrates and invertebrates through which ions and small molecules can pass. Their distribution in tissues could be of critical importance for ionic coupling or metabolic cooperation between cells or for regulating the intracellular movement of growth control and pattern formation factors. Studies of the distribution of gap junctions in mutants which develop abnormally may shed light upon their role in normal development. I report here the distribution of gap junctions in the wing pouch of 3 Drosophila wing disc mutants, vg (vestigial) a cell death mutant, 1(2)gd (lethal giant disc) a pattern abnormality mutant and 1(2)gl (lethal giant larva) a neoplastic mutant and compare these with wildtype wing discs.The wing pouch (the anlagen of the adult wing blade) of a wild-type wing disc is shown in Fig. 1 and consists of columnar cells (Fig. 5) joined by gap junctions (Fig. 6). 14000x EMs of conventionally processed, UA en bloc stained, longitudinally sectioned wing pouches were enlarged to 45000x with a projector and tracings were made on which the lateral plasma membrane (LPM) and gap junctions were marked.


1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 478-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquin F. Perez-Benito ◽  
Conchita Arias

The reaction between horse-heart cytochrome c and ascorbic acid has been investigated in the pH range 5.5 – 7.1 and at 10.0 – 25.0 °C. The rate shows a first-order dependence on the concentration of cytochrome c, it increases in a non-linear way as the concentration of ascorbic acid increases, it increases markedly with increasing pH and, provided that the ionic strength of the medium is high enough, it fulfills the Arrhenius equation. The apparent activation energy increases as the pH of the solution increases. The results have been explained by means of a mechanism that includes the existence of an equilibrium between two forms (acidic and basic) of oxidized cytochrome c: cyt-H+ -Fe3+ + OH- cyt -Fe3+ + H2O, whose equilibrium constant is (6.7 ± 1.4). 108 at 25.0 °C, the acidic form being more reducible than the basic one. It is suggested that there is a linkage of hydrogenascorbate ion to both forms of cytochrome c previous to the redox reactions. Two possibilities for the oxidant-reductant linkage (binding and adsorption) are discussed in detail.


2003 ◽  
Vol 278 (43) ◽  
pp. 42728
Author(s):  
Antoni Barrientos ◽  
Danielle Pierre ◽  
Johnson Lee ◽  
Alexander Tzagoloff

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