Genetic variability of alcohol dehydrogenase among Australian Drosophila species: correlation of ADH biochemical phenotype with ethanol resource utilization.
TLDR
Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activities, electrophoretic phenotypes, and the extent of ethanol resource utilization are compared for three groups of species distinguishable on ecological criteria: the cosmopolitan species D. melanogaster, a frequent inhabitant of wineries; fruit‐baited species of the typically Australian subgenus Scaptodrosophila; and species not attracted to fermented‐fruit baits being collected by sweeping in temperate rain forests.Abstract:
Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activities, electrophoretic phenotypes, and the extent of ethanol resource utilization are compared for three groups of species distinguishable on ecological criteria: 1) the cosmopolitan species D. melanogaster, a frequent inhabitant of wineries; 2) fruit-baited species of the typically Australian subgenus Scaptodrosophila: D. lativittata, D. nitidithorax and D. howensis; and 3) Scaptodrosophila species not attracted to fermented-fruit baits being collected by sweeping in temperate rain forests (D. inornata, D. collessi) or from Hibiscus flowers (D. hibisci). D. melanogaster showed the highest levels of ADH activity and an electrophoretic polymorphism with two active allelic forms, while group 2) species showed intermediate ADH activities and polymorphisms, which were consistent with "high activity" and "low activity" allelic forms in natural populations of these species, and group 3) species showed only "low activity" forms. Ethanol resource utilization follows the same sequence, being 1 greater than 2 greater than 3 (D. howensis and D. collessi were not tested). Therefore the species considered show an association of ADH biochemical phenotype, laboratory ethanol utilization, and resources utilized.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Ecological processes in a hormetic framework.
TL;DR: It is shown that hormesis is connected with both acclimation and phenotypic plasticity, and may play an important role in allowing animals to adjust to changing environments.
BookDOI
Oxidative Stress and Hormesis in Evolutionary Ecology and Physiology
TL;DR: This chapter provides a general historical background, with definitions and information of free radicals, antioxidants and oxidative stress and examines how mild doses of stress can have stimulatory effects on organismal performance through hormetic mechanisms and that this may significantly relate to evolutionary fitness and to the ecology of species.
Book ChapterDOI
Evolutionary Rates under Environmental Stress
TL;DR: The underlying emphasis of this chapter is that environmental stresses are of major importance for any consideration of evolutionary rates in particular periods of rapid change.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evolutionary origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory.
TL;DR: Although diverse factors contribute to the expression of alcoholism as a clinical syndrome, historical selection for the consumption of ethanol in the course of frugivory can be viewed as a subtle yet pervasive evolutionary influence on modern humans.
Journal ArticleDOI
The expression of the gene coding for alcohol dehydrogenase during the development of Drosophila melanogaster
TL;DR: The gene coding for the abundant enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase in Drosophila melanogaster is transcribed from one of two different promoters, 708 bp apart, at different stages of the fly's life cycle, causing a change in pattern of transcription, from proximal to distal promoters.
References
More filters
Journal Article
The contribution of ecological genetics to evolutionary theory: detecting the direct effects of natural selection on particular polymorphic loci.
TL;DR: This strategy has been applied to the alcohol dehydrogenase polymorphism of Drosophila melanogaster and has provided very strong evidence that the polymorphism is directly subject to selection.
Journal ArticleDOI
Alcohol tolerance: An ecological parameter in the relative success of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans.
John A. McKenzie,P. A. Parsons +1 more
TL;DR: Field results were in agreement with the laboratory predictions that D. melanogaster is better able to utilize an alcohol resource than D. simulans, with the females being more tolerant than the males of their species.
Journal ArticleDOI
Enzyme flexibility in Drosophila melanogaster.
TL;DR: It is suggested that geographical or temporal changes in the environment could place a premium on metabolic flexibility and that selection for heterozygotes or alternating selection for different homozygotes might establish the necessary enzyme heterogeneity in the population.
Journal ArticleDOI
Alcohol Dehydrogenase in Drosophila melanogaster: Isozymes and Genetic Variants
TL;DR: The gene, Adh, is located on the second chromosome, with a map position of 50.1 and a cytological position between 34E3 and 35D1, indicating that the dehydrogenase may exist as a dimer of two polypeptide subunits.
Related Papers (5)
Alcohol tolerance: An ecological parameter in the relative success of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans.
John A. McKenzie,P. A. Parsons +1 more
Microdifferentiation in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster to alcohol in the environment.
John A. McKenzie,P. A. Parsons +1 more
A comparative study of resource utilization in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans.
John A. McKenzie,S. W. McKechnie +1 more