Genetic variation in the dietary sucrose modulation of enzyme activities inDrosophila melanogaster

Abstract

SUMMARYGenetic variation in the modulating effect of dietary sucrose was assessed inDrosophila melanogasterby examining 27 chromosome substitution lines coisogenic for theXand second chromosomes and possessing different third isogenic chromosomes derived from natural populations. An increase in the concentration of sucrose from 0·1% to 5% in modified Sang's medium C significantly altered the activities of 11 of 15 enzyme activities in third instar larvae, indicating that dietary sucrose modulates many, but not all, of the enzymes ofD. melanogaster. A high sucrose diet promoted high activities of enzymes associated with lipid and glycogen synthesis and low activities of enzymes of the glycolytic and Krebs cycle pathways, reflecting the physiological requirements of the animal. Analyses of variance revealed significant genetic variation in the degrees to which sucrose modulated several enzyme activities. Analysis of correlations revealed some relationships between enzymes in the genetic effects on the modulation process. These observations suggest that adaptive evolutionary change may depend in part on the selection of enzyme activity modifiers that are distributed throughout the genome.