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Relationship between ADH activity and behavioral response to environmental alcohol inDrosophila

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Abstract

Three alcohol dehydrogenase genotypes, homozygous for either the electrophoretically fast, slow, or null allele at theAdh locus inD. melanogaster, were tested for relative larval alcohol preference behavior (APB) over a range of ethanol concentrations. Differences in behavior between genotypes were not significant at concentrations below 10%. At concentrations greater than 10%, avoidance behavior was negatively correlated with the relative ADH activity levels of the genotypes tested. A model based on the differential buildup of toxic acetaldehyde is proposed to explain the avoidance response.

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This work was supported by NSF Grant DEB-7815466 to J. M.

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Gelfand, L.J., McDonald, J.F. Relationship between ADH activity and behavioral response to environmental alcohol inDrosophila . Behav Genet 10, 237–249 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067770

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067770

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