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Preference for ethanol inDrosophila melanogaster associated with the alcohol dehydrogenase polymorphism

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Abstract

Two alcohol dehydrogenase genotypes (Adh F/Adh F andAdh S/Adh S) exhibit different behavioral responses when presented with a choice between ethanol and nonethanol environments at the larval stage but not at the adult stage. The larval preferences are correlated with alcohol dehydrogenase activity, which also differs between genotypes. Since ethanol is important in the ecology of this species, the preference may be related to microhabitat selection in nature.

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This project was supported by NSF Grant DEB76-82479 to M. T. Clegg.

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Cavener, D. Preference for ethanol inDrosophila melanogaster associated with the alcohol dehydrogenase polymorphism. Behav Genet 9, 359–365 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01066974

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01066974

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