Regulation of alcohol dehydrogenase in Drosophila melanogaster by dietary alcohol and carbohydrate

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen W McKechnie ◽  
Billy W Geer
Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
pp. 897-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
S McNabb ◽  
S Greig ◽  
T Davis

Abstract This report describes the structure and expression of the outspread (osp) gene of Drosophila melanogaster. Previous work showed that chromosomal breakpoints associated with mutations of the osp locus map to both sides of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene (Adh), suggesting that Adh and the adjacent gene Adh' are nested in osp. We extended a chromosomal walk and mapped additional osp mutations to define the maximum molecular limit of osp as 119 kb. We identified a 6-kb transcript that hybridizes to osp region DNA and is altered or absent in osp mutants. Accumulation of this RNA peaks during embryonic and pupal periods. The osp cDNAs comprise two distinct classes based on alternative splicing patterns. The 5′ end of the longest cDNA was extended by PCR amplification. When hybridized to the osp walk, the 5′ extension verifies that Adh and Adh' are nested in osp and shows that osp has a transcription unit of ≥74 kb. In situ hybridization shows that osp is expressed both maternally and zygotically. In the ovary, osp is transcribed in nurse cells and localized in the oocyte. In embryos, expression is most abundant in the developing visceral and somatic musculature.


Genetics ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-388
Author(s):  
John F McDonald ◽  
Francisco J Ayala

ABSTRACT Recent studies by various authors suggest that variation in gene regulation may be common in nature, and might be of great evolutionary consequence; but the ascertainment of variation in gene regulation has proven to be a difficult problem. In this study, we explore this problem by measuring alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity in Drosophila melanogaster strains homozygous for various combinations of given second and third chromosomes sampled from a natural population. The structural locus (Adh) coding for ADH is on the second chromosome. The results show that: (1) there are genes, other than Adh, that affect the levels of ADH activity; (2) at least some of these "regulatory" genes are located on the third chromosome, and thus are not adjacent to the Adh locus; (3) variation exists in natural populations for such regulatory genes; (4) the effect of these regulatory genes varies as they interact with different second chromosomes; (5) third chromosomes with high-activity genes are either partially or completely dominant over chromosomes with low-activity genes; (6) the effects of the regulatory genes are pervasive throughout development; and (7) the third chromosome genes regulate the levels of ADH activity by affecting the number of ADH molecules in the flies. The results are consistent with the view that the evolution of regulatory genes may play an important role in adaptation.


Nature ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 280 (5722) ◽  
pp. 517-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRYAN CLARKE ◽  
ROBERT G. CAMFIELD ◽  
ALISON M. GALVIN ◽  
CHRISTOPHER R. PITTS

1974 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Day ◽  
P. C. Hillier ◽  
Bryan Clarke

1979 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 387 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B Gibson ◽  
NigeI Lewis ◽  
MichaeI Adena ◽  
Susan R Wilson

Selection for ethanol tolerance was equally successful in two populations of D. melanogaster in both of which the frequency of AdhF was 0�5 at the start of the experiment.


Genetics ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-191
Author(s):  
W van Delden ◽  
A C Boerema ◽  
A Kamping

ABSTRACT The allozyme polymorphism at the alcohol dehydrogenase locus in Drosophila melanogaster was studied in order to obtain experimental evidence about the maintenance of this polymorphism. Populations started with different initial allele frequencies from homozygous F and S lines showed a convergence of frequencies on regular food at 25°, leading to values equal to those in the base populations. These results were interpreted as due to some kind of balancing selection. In populations kept at 29.8°, a lower equilibrium F frequency was attained. Addition of ethanol and some other alcohols to the food gave a rapid increase in F frequency, and high humidity decreased the F frequency slightly. Combination or alternation of ethanol and high humidity had variable effects in the populations tested. For a further analysis of the allele-frequency changes, estimates were obtained for egg-to-adult survival under different conditions and for adult survival on ethanol-supplemented food. On ethanol food (both at regular and high humidity), egg-to-adult survival of SS homozygotes was considerably lower than that of the FF and FS genotypes. Under regular conditions of food, temperature and humidity, a tendency to heterozygote superiority was observed, while at high humidity a relative high survival of SS was noticed in some tests. Adult survival of SS was lower than that of FF, but FS was generally intermediate, though the degree of dominance differed between populations. The results are consistent with the hypothesis of the occurrence of selection at the Adh locus.


Genetics ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 1165-1190
Author(s):  
Charles F Aquadro ◽  
Susan F Desse ◽  
Molly M Bland ◽  
Charles H Langley ◽  
Cathy C Laurie-Ahlberg

ABSTRACT Variation in the DNA restriction map of a 13-kb region of chromosome ll including the alcohol dehydrogenase structural gene (Adh) was examined in Drosophila melanogaster from natural populations. Detailed analysis of 48 D. melanogaster lines representing four eastern United States populations revealed extensive DNA sequence variation due to base substitutions, insertions and deletions. Cloning of this region from several lines allowed characterization of length variation as due to unique sequence insertions or deletions [nine sizes; 21-200 base pairs (bp)] or transposable element insertions (several sizes, 340 bp to 10.2 kb, representing four different elements). Despite this extensive variation in sequences flanking the Adh gene, only one length polymorphism is clearly associated with altered Adh expression (a copia element approximately 250 bp 5′ to the distal transcript start site). Nonetheless, the frequency spectra of transposable elements within and between Drosophila species suggests they are slightly deleterious. Strong nonrandom associations are observed among Adh region sequence variants, ADH allozyme (Fast vs. Slow), ADH enzyme activity and the chromosome inversion ln(2L)t. Phylogenetic analysis of restriction map haplotypes suggest that the major twofold component of ADH activity variation (high vs. low, typical of Fast and Slow allozymes, respectively) is due to sequence variation tightly linked to and possibly distinct from that underlying the allozyme difference. The patterns of nucleotide and haplotype variation for Fast and Slow allozyme lines are consistent with the recent increase in frequency and spread of the Fast haplotype associated with high ADH activity. These data emphasize the important role of evolutionary history and strong nonrandom associations among tightly linked sequence variation as determinants of the patterns of variation observed in natural populations.


Genetics ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-435
Author(s):  
M Ashburner ◽  
C S Aaron ◽  
S Tsubota

ABSTRACT Of 31 X-ray-induced and 2 spontaneous Adh null mutations selected for resistance to pentenol (Aaron 1979), 21 are deletions, including Adh and one or more neighboring loci. By contrast, none of 13 EMS-induced Adhn mutations are deletions. On average, the size of these X-ray-induced deletions is shorter than that of 12 formaldehyde-induced Adhn deletions (O'Donnell, Mandell, Krauss and Sofer 1977). Both the X-ray- and formaldehyde-induced deletions show a nonrandom distribution of break points in region 34D to 35D of chromosome arm 2L. Some of the deletions display particular genetic properties associated with one of their end points.


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