Die geographische Verbreitung der chromosomalen Strukturtypen von Drosophila subobscura Coll

Zusammenfassung 1. Auf Grund der Untersuchung zahlreicher Stämme von Drosophila subobscura, die aus Köderfängen in Österreich, Oberitalien, Großbritannien, Holland, Sardinien, Syrien und Palästina abgeleitet worden waren, wurde eine Übersicht über die Verteilung und relative Häufigkeit der verschiedenen chromosomalen Strukturtypen dieser Art erzielt. Zur Ergänzung dieses Bildes wurden die Resultate von Stumm-Zollinger (1953) herangezogen.2. Die verschiedene Verbreitung und Häufigkeit der Strukturtypen wird als das Resultat eines alten phylogenetischen Prozesses gedeutet, wobei die Heterosiswirkung der strukturell heterozygoten Zustände als die zur strukturellen Mannigfaltigkeit führende Kraft angenommen wird.     

Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Inversionen, Duplikationen und Strukturtypen vonDrosophila Subobscura Coll

Zusammenfassung In natürlichen Populationen vonDrosophila subobscura Coll. aus der Schweiz, Tanger, Türkei und Persien wurden 13 neue Strukturtypen gefunden. Davon gehen 7 auf neu beschriebene Inversionen zurück, 2 auf Duplikationen und 4 auf Rekombination bereits bekannter Inversionen.Es wird angenommen, daß die aufgefundenen Duplikationen auf austauschbedingte Abspaltung aus Inversionskomplexen zurückgehen.An zwei früher beschriebenen Inversionen wurden Korrekturen in der Bruchstellenlokalisation angebracht.Der Bestand an bekannten natürlich vorkommenden Chromosomenstrukturen umfaßt zur Zeit 49 Inversionen, 2 Duplikationen und 61 Strukturtypen.Die bisherige Auffassung über die nicht zufallsmäßige Verteilung der Bruchstellen wird durch das neue Material bestätigt.Mit 10 TextabbildungenMit Unterstützung der Karl Hescheler-Stiftung.     

The sex-peptide gene (Acp70A) is duplicated in Drosophila subobscura

A 3.1-kb region of Drosophila subobscura homologous to the Acp70A region of D. melanogaster, which contains the sex-peptide gene, was cloned and sequenced. This region contains an approximately 600-bp duplication that includes the sex-peptide and its 5′ and 3′ flanking regions. The preproteins are 54 and 56 amino acids long, respectively (as compared to 55 amino acids in D. melanogaster), and each includes a 19-amino-acid-long signal peptide. The C-terminal part of the mature peptide is highly conserved between D. melanogaster and the two copies of D. subobscura. In this species, both copies of the gene are transcribed and, like in D. melanogaster, only expressed in males. The duplicated region includes 300 bp upstream of the gene that would therefore seem sufficient for their expression in males. This region presents at its 5′ end a stretch 93-bp that has a high similarity with the corresponding region of D. melanogaster and could be part of a still unidentified regulatory element of these genes.     

The genetics ofDrosophila subobscura populations

Summary The inversion polymorphism in a population ofDrosophila subobscura from Holland is examined. The high frequency of the Standard gene arrangement in all five chromosomes, the high IFR value, and the low mean number of inversions show a low polymorphism expected in submarginal northern populations within the area of the geographic distribution of the species. The study of this population further confirms the existence of North-South clines for inversion types in every chromosome of this species.     

Oviposition behavior ofDrosophila subobscura and its parasitoidAsobara tabida in the laboratory

At 18°C, adultAsobara tabida emerge 21 days after oviposition within the host;Drosophila subobscura emerges 18 days after oviposition. The relatively short pre-oviposition period of adultA. tabida (4 days), compared to that ofD. subobscura (4–8 days) results in the generation times of both host and parasitoid being approximately similar. A yeast source is necessary forD. subobscura females to mature their eggs; female flies will not oviposit on patches without a yeast source. While surface roughness is an important characteristic for maximumD. subobscura oviposition,A. tabida oviposition, and consequent levels of parasitism, is enhanced by coating patches with askin of active yeast. When presented with a multi-patch environment, experienced and inexperienced female wasps showed no significant difference in their level of attack.     

Genetic instability in Drosophila melanogaster

Summary An unstable long tandem duplication which includes the white locus twice, marked with w ^sp in the left and w ^17G in the right locus, when kept in males has been found to produce red-eyed sons which have lost the long duplication and with it the w ^sp and w ^17G mutants. Such exceptions were produced also when w ^17G had been exchanged for w ^a.Stocks originating from these exceptions are unstable, producing: 1) zeste males, also unstable, 2) w ^- deletions, stable, 3) transpositions of the white locus to sites in other chromosomes.The instability is interpreted as the effect of an IS element, within or adjacent to the white locus, which is supposed to retain a duplication of the proximal zeste interacting part of this locus. According to the orientation of the IS element the duplicated part can be active or inactive, giving a zeste or red eye phenotype.The frequency of exceptional offspring after X-ray treatment of the red and zeste unstable stocks have been compared to stable stocks with corresponding genotypes.     

Dopa decarboxylase from Drosophila melanogaster

Summary Dopa decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.26) has been purified to near homogeneity from mature larvae of Drosophila melanogaster. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 113,000 measured by sucrose gradient sedimentation and 102,000 measured by variable porosity acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Electrophoresis under denaturing conditions revealed the enzyme consists of two subunits of molecular weight 54,000. The affinity of the enzyme for L-dopa is 30-fold greater than for L-tyrosine. Activity is strongly inhibited by heavy metal ions and the sulfhydryl reagent N-ethylmaleimide. N-acetyl dopamine acts as a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme.Antibodies were elicited against the purified enzyme and measurements of the amount of cross-reacting material (CRM) in two groups of mutants were made. The first group comprised the recessive lethal mutants l(2)amd. Heterozygous mutant stocks are hypersensitive to -methyl dopa, an inhibitor of dopa decarboxylase. These stocks were found to have nearly normal amounts of CRM and enzyme activity.A second group of recessive lethal mutants, characterized by lower levels of dopa decarboxylase, was also analysed. These mutants, designated l(2) Ddc, as heterozygotes exhibited CRM levels between 25 and 75% of normal. Although they are alleles at a single locus, they were classifiable into three distinct groups whose properties readily could be ascribed to a homodimeric structure of the enzyme. This structure would also account for the pattern of intracistronic complementation exhibited by the mutants. Finally, the severity of the mutant defects, as judged by our measurements of CRM and activity, closely parallels that deduced from their complementation pattern. We conclude that these mutations are lesions in the structural gene for dopa decarboxylase.     

Behavioral mutants of Drosophila melanogaster

Summary Sex-linked behavioral mutants were induced in Drosophila melanogaster with ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) and isolated by direct visual observation of abnormal phenotypes. The four behavioral phenotypes used were flight-reduction, hyperactivity, hypoactivity and stress-sensitivity, and are easily discernable in either single or small populations of mutant flies. In one screen, forty-two behavioral mutants were recovered from strains derived from 800 mutagen-treated X chromosomes. In a second screen, 139 behavioral mutants were obtained from 2369 X chromosomes. The high rate at which behavioral mutants were recovered in the second screen, when compared to new visibles (28) and new temperature-sensitive lethals (124), suggests that the isolation of behavioral mutations on the autosomes of Drosophila and in the genomes of larger insects should be practical.This research was supported by National Research Council of Canada grant A-1764 to D.T.S.     

Paucimannose N-glycans in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster

There is a rich diversity of paucimannose N-glycans in worms and flies, and these may play a role in the survival of these organisms. Although paucimannose N-glycans are not expressed in vertebrates, complex N-glycans may take over some of the functions of paucimannose N-glycans. Identification of the target proteins of β-1,2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (GnTI) in worms and flies and elucidation of their functions may thus lead to a better understanding of the role of GnTI-dependent glycoproteins in the survival/longevity of both invertebrates and vertebrates.     

Nucleotide metabolism variability in Drosophila melanogaster

Summary We have studied the metabolic variability within different wild-type strains of Drosophila melanogaster for resistance to antimetabolites (aminopterin, 8-azaguanine), the target enzymatic activities (dihydrofolate reductase, hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase) and capacity to survive on minimal medium with or without exogenous bases or nucleosides (thymidine, hypoxanthine). No correlation was found between dihydrofolate reductase activity and resistance to aminopterin. The results indicated the importance of salvage pathways in the resistance mechanisms in Drosophila.     

Fehlen von Isoxanthopterin und Nicht-Autonomie in der Bildung der roten Augenpigmente bei einer Mutante (rosy2) von Drosophila melanogaster

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 4 TextabbildungenHerrn Professor Dr. Karl v. Frisch zum 70. Geburtstag gewidmet. — Ausgeführt mit Unterstützung der Karl-Hescheler-Stiftung.     

The sibling species Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans differ in the expression profile of glutathione S-transferases

Two major forms of glutathione S-transferase are known in Drosophila melanogaster: GST D and GST 2. In the present paper we report the existence of a third major form of glutathione S-transferase in Drosophila simulans. Induction with phenobarbital revealed a different regulation of GST between these species. Despite the fact that these two species are closely related, there was a difference in the expression profile of the enzyme implicated in the detoxification system, suggesting variations in capacity to suit their environment.     

Poliert (Pol), Eine Neue Augenmutante im 4. Chromosom bei Drosophila melanogaster Meig

Zusammenfassung Es wird über eine neue Mutation poliert=pol im 4. Chromosom bei Drosophila melanogaster berichtet. Sie bewirkt glänzende Augen und wird einfach rezessiv vererbt. Die Penetranz beträgt 100%.Ursache der Glanzaugen ist ein Herausgleiten der Retinulazellen aus der Augenanlage am 2. Tag nach der Verpuppung. Dadurch kommt es zu Störungen in der Ausbildung der Pseudoconi und der Kornealinsen, so daß die Augenoberfläche vollkommen glatt ist.Mit 5 Textabbildungen.     

Autonomy of the wingless mutation in Drosophila melanogaster

Summary T(Y;2) translocations were used to cytologically localise the wingless locus of Drosophila melanogaster. We found that an existing T(Y;2), which is an insertion of a segment of 2L into the Y chromosome, has wg ⁺ within this insert. This Y chromosome was used to generate an attached XY chromosome containing wg ⁺. The mutation claret-nondisjunctional (ca ^nd) was used to induce the loss of this XY chromosome and thus generate gynandromorphs with wg ¹/wg ¹ male tissue and wg ⁺/wg ¹/wg ¹ female tissue. Analysis of these gynanders demonstrated that a genotypically wingless mutant hemithorax is usually also phenotypically mutant in these half body mosaics; thus wg ¹ is discautonomous. This observation is of interest as it is known that wg is not cell autonomous.     

Homology between Drosophila melanogaster and Escherichia coli ribosomal proteins

Summary Antibodies raised against D. melanogaster ribosomal proteins were used to examine possible structural relationships between eukaryotic and prokaryotic ribosomal proteins. The antisera were raised against either groups of ribosomal proteins or purified individual ribosomal proteins from D. melanogaster. The specificity of each antiserum was confirmed and the identity of the homologous E. coli ribosomal protein was determined by immunochemical methods. Immuno-overlay assays indicated that the antiserum against the D. melanogaster small subunit protein S14 (anti-S14) was highly specific for protein S14. In addition, anti-S14 showed a cross-reaction with total E. coli ribosomal proteins in Ouchterlony double immunodiffusion assays and with only E. coli protein S6 in immuno-overlay assays. From these and other experiments with adsorption of anti-S14 with individual purified proteins, the E. coli protein homologous to the D. melanogaster protein S14 was established as protein S6.     

Ein Neues vg-Allel Bei Drosophila Melanogaster

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 1 Textabbildung