THE CONTROL OF ALDEHYDE OXIDASE AND XANTHINE DEHYDROGENASE ACTIVITIES BY THE CINNAMON GENE IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Abstract

The isolation and characterization of 16 alleles of the cinnamon (cin, 1-0.0) locus in Drosophila melanogaster are described. The effects of cin on viability and the maternal effect of cin+ on eye color have been separated from each other as well as from the deficiency for aldehyde oxidase (AO) and xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) activities. These 16 alleles have been assigned to four complementation groups based on analysis of AO and XDH activities in all heteroallelic female combinations. Zygotic complementation for lethality and eye color has been characterized and allows the ordering of cin alleles in a consistent pattern for the ability to produce viable zygotes and/or complement for the eye color phene. Several complementing cin combinations were analyzed for heat stability of AO. In all cases, AO from allelic heterozygotes was more heat labile than wild-type AO. One cin allele, cin13, produces heat labile AO in combination with cin+ from Oregon-R, hence exhibiting a "dominant" heat stability phenotype.