ALBERT

Notes: Summary The nucleotide sequence ofDrosophila melanogaster 5S RNA has been determined and appears to be homogeneous both in the KC cell line and in the insect at different developmental stages. Experimental evidence on the conformation of this molecule is in agreement with a general class of 5S RNA models.

Notes: Summary Injection of α-ecdysone into the larval haemolymph of late third instar larvae ofD. virilis induces both the extrusion of secretory proteins and the inactivation of the enzyme glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate-aminotransferase (E.C. 2.6.16) in the salivary glands. In the presence of actinomycin D or cycloheximide the hormone is ineffective. If before adding these inhibitors RNA synthesis is allowed to proceed for 1.5h, or protein synthesis for 2h after ecdysone injection, however, the protein extrusion and the enzyme inactivation do occur. It is proposed that ecdysone controls these two cytoplasmic events at the transcriptional level by the activation of specific Correlations with puff activities are discussed.

Notes: Summary 1. The developmental potentials of dissociated cells of the different regions of the male foreleg disc ofDrosophila melanogaster were analysed. To this end, various amounts of foreleg disc material were dissociated together with an excess of heavily irradiated wing discs (“feeding layer”), and the reaggregates were cultured for 10 days in the abdomens of adult hosts prior to metamorphosis. 2. The foreleg disc cells were in most cases unable to regenerate missing structures in a circular direction within the leg segments. Instead they strongly tended to adopt the specifications of more distal leg segments (distal transformation), irrespective of the region of origin of the ancestor cells within the disc. 3. The distal transformation occurred mainly, if not exclusively, during an early phase (“initial phase”) in the reaggregates. 4. The extent of distal transformation was most pronounced in those series in which the foreleg cells were initially least diluted by the “feeding layer” cells. 5. Cells of the lower lateral quadrant were very poor both in proliferative activity and in the extent of distal transformation, compared to cells of the three remaining quadrants. In the experiments with a low initial dilution of the foreleg cells, cells of the lower medial quadrant underwent distal transformation much more distinctly than cells of the upper medial and the upper lateral quadrants. 6. Allotypic structures occurred exclusively in reaggregates of the upper medial and upper lateral quadrants. In these implants, however, the frequency of transdetermination was extremely high. 7. Two alternative mechanisms are discussed which could have led to the general occurrence of distal transformation. They differ in the basic assumption of whether or not the “feeding layer” cells were able to interact with the leg cells to influence their regulative behaviour. In addition, interactions among the leg cells themselves seemed to stimulate proliferation to varying degrees and may account for the observed differences in the degree of distal transformation.

Notes: Summary Three-hundred and twenty fertile,pal-induced Y-chromosome mosaic males and females were obtained. Fractional analysis of the sons of 55 somatically mosaic flies that were also germinally mosaic tentatively suggests that the number of functional primordial germ cells inDrosophila melanogaster is variable and that it is seldom greater than 24. From the observed 0.17 frequency of germinal mosaicism it was estimated that the average number of pole cells at the end of blastoderm formation is 45. At present, the germ cells afford the only opportunity to compare genetic estimates of the number of blastoderm or primordial cells with available histological counts. The good agreement between them suggests that both the fractional and the mosaic frequency methods for estimating primordial or blastoderm cell numbers of various larval and imaginal anatomical structures provide reasonably close approximations of the actual values.

Notes: Summary 1. Histological analyses were made of imaginal discs and histoblasts during the larval development ofDrosophila melanogaster to determine the number of cells, the patterns of cell division and the growth dynamics in these adult primordia. Histological studies were also made of the imaginal rings which are the primordia of the adult salivary gland, fore-and hindgut, the anlage cells of the midgut and several larval and embryonic tissues. 2. In the newly-hatched larva, the immature eye-antenna, wing, haltere, leg and genital discs contain about 70, 38, 20, 36–45 and 64 cells respectively. These numbers include cells destined to form cuticular elements as well as peripodial, tracheal and nerve cells and probably the progenitors of adepithelial cells. The number of cells counted in the various imaginal disc anlagen is 1.5 to 4 times higher than the numbers deduced from genetic mosaic analyses by other investigators and reasons for these differences are given. 3. About 12 h after fertilization, mitosis ceases in all tissues of the embryo except the nervous system. After the larva hatches, mitosis resumes in most of the imaginal anlagen and in some larval tissues. The time of resumption of mitosis in the imaginal anlagen was determined after treating the larvae with colchicine for 2 h. 4. Among the imaginal discs, the eye disc is the first to begin cell division, at about 13–15 h after the hatching of the larva (first instar) followed by the wing (15–17 h), the haltere (18–20 h), the antenna, leg, and genitalia (24–26 h, early second instar), and finally the labial and dorsal prothoracic discs (52–54 h, early third instar). The cell doubling time for various discs was calculated from cell counts and the times agree closely with the doubling times deduced from clonal analyses by other workers: e.g., 7.5 h for the cells of the wing disc. 5. The imaginal ring of the hindgut first shows cell division early in the second instar. The imaginal rings of the foregut and salivary glands, the anlage cells of the midgut and the cells of the segmental lateral tracheal branches begin to divide early in the third instar. 6. The histoblasts which are the anlagen of the integument of the adult abdomen do not increase in number from the time of larval hatching until about 5 h after pupation when they begin to divide. Their behaviour contrasts with that of the histoblasts of the other dipterans such asCalliphora, Musca andDacus, which begin to divide during the second instar. 7. The histoblasts are an integral part of the larval abdominal epidermis and, unlike imaginal disc cells, secrete cuticle during larval life. Each hemisegment consists of an anterior dorsal, a posterior dorsal, and a ventral histoblast nest containing about 13, 6 and 12 cells respectively. The 62 histoblasts in each larval segment represent about 7–8% of the total number of cells that form the integument of that segment. 8. The number of cells in a particular type of histoblast nest was constant for both male and female larvae and among the different abdominal segments, except that the anterior dorsal group of the first and the seventh segments contains fewer cells than those of the other segments. Although the male and female adultDrosophila lack the first abdominal sternite and the male lacks the seventh abdominal tergite and sternite, the ventral histoblast nests of the first and the dorsal and ventral nests of the seventh abdominal segments are present in the larval stages as well as in the prepupa and have the same morphology and cell number as similar nests in the rest of the abdominal segments. 9. The cells of the imaginal discs increase in volume about six-fold and their nuclei increase in volume three-fold between the time of hatching and the initiation of mitosis. The histoblasts increase in volume about 60-fold and their nuclei increase in volume about 25-fold between larval hatching and pupariation. 10. Prior to each cell division, the nuclei of the columnar cells of the disc epithelium and of the histoblasts appear to migrate toward the apical surface of the epithelium. The cells round up and shift toward the apical region where mitosis occurs. After cytokinesis, the daughter cells move back to deeper positions in the epithelium. Because the nuclei of the non-dividing cells continue to lie deep in the epithelium, this intermitotic migration of nuclei gives these epithelia a pseudostratified appearance. 11. Analyses of the growth of larval cells and of organs confirmed the observations of earlier investigators that cell division occurs only in a few larval tissues, whereas growth in the rest of the larval tissues is by cell enlargement and polyteny. During larval life, cell division was detected only in the central nervous system, gonads, prothoracic glands, lymph glands and haemocytes. Each tissue began mitosis at a characteristic stage in larval life. The larval cells that did not divide, grew enormously, e.g., epidermal cells increased in volume 150-fold and their nuclei increased in volume 80-fold. 12. The adepithelial cells, which give rise to some of the imaginal muscles, were first identified between the thick side of the imaginal dise epithelium and the basement membrane at the beginning of the third larval instar (50–52 h). The origin of these precursors of mesodermal structures was analysed and evidence is presented that the adepithelial cells come from the disc epithelium. The question of the origin of the mesoderm of cyclorrhaphan Diptera is reviewed and it is suggested that the imaginal disc ectoderm may become segregated from the rest of the embryo before gastrulation has occurred, that is before the mesoderm has been established.

Notes: Summary The derivatives of 110 mosaic genital discs of gynandromorphs have been analysed microscopically. It has been found that theanalia of both sexes are homologous and derive from a single primordium (see Fig. 1a). Whether male or female anal plates are formed depends on the genetic constitution of the cells. This is analogous to the development of male sex combs versus female transversal rows on the forelegs of gynandromorphs. In contrast, the data for thegenitalia (see Fig. 1 b) are best explained if it is assumed that there are two genital primordia in everyDrosophila embryo: a male primordium that will only develop into genitalia if populated by XY (or XO) nuclei, and a female primordium that will only do so if populated by XX nuclei. This model, as depicted in Figure 2, is compatible with all our gynandromorph data and also with observations onMusca andCalliphora where in fact two separate genital primordia are found.

Notes: Summary The females produced in the crossesD. melanogaster×D. simulans andD. melanogaster×D. mauritiana are sterile and have reduced ovaries. Normal and fertile ovaries were produced when genetically marked pole cells ofD. melanogaster were transplanted into eggs which gave rise to the hybrid females. These results eliminate the possibility that the sterility of these hybrids is due to the somatic component, i.e. the follicular cells of the ovaries, or to other physiological causes. The results also suggest that the control of gonadal morphogenesis is dependent mainly on the germ line.

Notes: Summary The generalogical relationships of photoreceptor cells within the compound eye ofDrosophila have been studied using cell labelling, with either3H-thymidine or recessive mutations, during the third larval stage. It has been found that photoreceptor and secondary pigment cells arise from different precursor cells. Under the present experimental conditions, precursors of receptor cells give rise to about 8 elements which differentiate as R cells of two different groups. One of the cells differentiates as R7 and the remaining as any one of the R1 to R6. The last cells behave initially as equivalent, and can differentiate within the same or within different, but neighbouring, ommatidia. The class of R1 to R6 cell in which each one of these elements differentiates, seems to depend on the time of its origin. The implications of these findings for the formation of the ommatidial pattern are discussed.

Notes: Summary We report on the size distribution of clones marked by mitotic recombination induced by several different doses of X-rays applied to 72 h oldDrosophila larvae. The results indicate that the radiation significantly reduces the number of cells which undergo normal proliferation in the imaginal wing disc. We estimate that 1000 r reduces by 40–60% the number of cells capable of making a normal contribution to the development of the adult wing. Part of this reduction is due to severe curtailment in the proliferative ability of cells which nevertheless remain capable of adult differentiation; this effect is possibly due to radiation-induced aneuploidy. Cytological evidence suggests that immediate cell death also occurs as a result of radiation doses as low as 100 r. The surviving cells are stimulated to undergo additional proliferation in response to the X-ray damage so that the result is the differentiation of a normal wing.

Notes: Abstract Allozyme polymorphisms at seven loci have been studied in nine natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster from the Saône and Rhône valleys sampled in 1973 and 1974. A great deal of polymorphism was observed; an individual was on the average heterozygous at 20.2% of its loci. The populations were genetically very homogeneous throughout the region sampled. The number of ovariolae per female varied from one group of populations to another depending on their geographical separation. Yet the number of ovariolae remained constant from one year to the next. The results show that migration alone cannot explain the homogeneity of the allozyme frequencies. It seems reasonable to conclude that selection plays a major role in maintaining the homogeneity of populations living in proximal biotopes.

Notes: Abstract The activities of the enzymes aspartate transcarbamylase (ATCase) and dihydroorotase (DHOase) were determined in adult females from a wild-type strain and from eight different alleles of the X-linked mutation rudimentary (r) of Drosophila melanogaster. The alleles chosen span the genetic map of the r locus. The characteristics of the DHOase-catalyzed reaction which converts carbamyl aspartate to dihydroorotate are briefly described. Of all of the r strains tested, only one, r 9, has wild-type levels of aspartate transcarbamylase and dihydroorotase activities. The other seven show either intermediate or very low levels of activity for both enzymes. The lowered ATCase and DHOase activities observed in mutants which do not map in the region of the structural gene for these enzymes are interpreted in light of recent evidence that ATCase and DHOase are part of a three-enzyme complex.

Notes: Abstract An improved thin-layer chromatography technique is described for the separation of fluorescent compounds found in extracts of heads of Drosophila melanogaster. Eighteen to twenty fluorescent spots are resolved, two of which are xanthurenic acid and 3-hydroxykynurenine, and the remaining spots are presumably pteridines. Of these, nine have been identified and quantitated directly on the chromatograms with a fluorometer. One of the spots present on the chromatogram apparently has not been described previous to this work. Characteristics of this substance, termed “quench spot,” are presented, several of which indicate that it may be a pteridine or pteridine derivative.

Notes: Abstract Several points of biochemical similarity between white and scarlet mutants suggest that both are defective in the transport of xanthommatin precursors. In both, accumulation of 3-hydroxykynurenine is negligible during larval life and occurs at only a slow rate during adult development. Larvae of both mutants also excrete 3H-3-hydroxykynurenine and 3H-kynurenine rapidly, which probably accounts for the normal levels of kynurenine during larval life. 3-Hydroxykynurenine levels are abnormal in all white mutants which were studied, although in two alleles which are strongly pigmented (w sat and w col) accumulation is enhanced rather than diminished. In w a, larval accumulation is normal but accumulation during adult development is greatly diminished, suggesting that this mutation has a tissue-specific effect. Similar levels were found in zeste females. Of the 11 other eye color mutants tested, abnormal levels of 3-hydroxykynurenine were found in eight. In four of these (claret, light, lightoid, and pink), larval accumulation is negligible, suggesting that these have defects in the kynurenine transport system like scarlet and white. In three others, however (brown, karmoisin, and rosy), accumulation during larval life is enhanced. In cardinal accumulation is normal during larval life but is excessive during adult development. This evidence supports the suggestion that the cd mutation blocks the final step of xanthommatin synthesis.

Notes: Abstract The suppressible eye color mutant purple (pr) of Drosophila melanogaster is known to be unable to synthesize a wild-type complement of pteridine eye pigments. This study measures the reduced levels of drosopterins, sepiapterin, and an unidentified presumed pteridine in pr and pr bw. Pteridine analyses in double mutants combining pr with one of three other eye color mutants sepia, Henna-recessive3, and prune2, suggest that the metabolic block in pr occurs prior to sepiapterin biosynthesis. Measurements of GTP and GTP cyclohydrolase in pr showed wild-type levels and indicate the metabolic block in pr to be at one of the steps converting dihydroneopterin triphosphate to sepiapterin. Quantitation of pteridines in suppressed purple [su(s) 2; pr and pr; su(pr) e3] shows restoration of pteridines to wild-type or nearly wild-type levels.

Notes: Summary The mutagenic efficiency of ionizing radiations has been tested on different lines of Drosophila melanogaster. It has been shown that differential lethal effects are obtained when irradiated females from different lines are mated to flies carrying heterozygous lethal genes. The results seem not to be attributable to differential expression of the lethality in the various crosses performed with the irradiated flies. This might suggest that gene activity is involved in the expression of the mutagenic effects of radiations.

Notes: Abstract Five different eye color mutations ofDrosophila melanogaster have been tested for their effect on phototactic behavior. All five mutations seem to cause flies to be less photonegative than Canton-S control flies. The mutation sepia was found to produce this effect when heterozygous as well. It was also found that wild-type flies from highly photopositive and photonegative strains seem to be more photoneutral with age.

Notes: Abstract The sexcombs were amputated from males of three strains ofDrosophila melanogaster and one strain ofD. simulans in order to assess the importance of these structures in the sexual behavior of these species. InD. melanogaster the sexcombs are important in attempts to copulate with the female. Their removal delays copulation but does not suppress it entirely. Other aspects of courtship are not influenced by removal of the sexcombs. Strain differences in quantitative aspects of courtship were found, and also in the insemination rates of females by males without sexcombs. The present evidence suggests that the sexcombs are primarily structures adapted to grasping the female securely during the act of intromission.

Notes: Abstract MaleDrosophila melanogaster differ in the age at which they reach sexual maturity following eclosion from the pupa. Courtship latency, which is the time taken by a male to initiate courtship of a conspecific female, is related to age. Young males take significantly longer than older males to begin courtship. The probability that a male will initiate courtship is influenced by the physiological state of the female. Males of different genotypes readily court mature (3-day-old) virgin females, but they differ significantly in their reaction to immature (12-hr-old) and fertilized females. Genes located on the third chromosome largely control male courtship latency, but responses to immature and fertilized females have different genetic bases, suggesting that the relevant stimulus inputs governing these responses also differ. The adaptive significance of courtship directed toward immature or fertilized females, which rarely mate, probably depends on the average level of sexual responsiveness of potentially receptive mature virgin females in a given population.

Notes: Abstract Matings betweenDrosophila pseudoobscura strains differeing at the amylase (Amy) locus were observed in Elens-Wattiaux chambers. Males homozygous for eitherAmy 1.00 orAmy 0.84 alleles in the CH gene arrangement enjoyed a mating advantage when moderately rare, but none when quite rare. The minority male advantage for strains differing at theAmy locus, and other loci linked to it, was comparable in size to that observed between strains carrying the ST or CH gene arrangements, and either alike or different at theAmy locus. Although some features of our results are puzzling, there is evidence that theAmy locus and others for which it serves as a marker have effects on mating behavior which include some degree of rare male mating advantage.

Notes: Abstract Although mazes have been widely used in studying phototaxis, geotaxis, and, more recently, learning inDrosophila, there is no uniformity in maze design, and little is known about the effects such apparatus differences may have on behavior. The new maze design described here is based on T-junctions, molded individually in acrylic, and provides an inexpensive and standardized means of building mazes to any desired specification. The need for uniformity in maze design is demonstrated with an experiment on three variables at the start of a maze that affect the subsequent response of four strains ofD. melanogaster in different ways. Some implications for futureDrosophila research using mazes are considered.

Notes: Abstract Ten behavioral mutations, originally isolated in the countercurrent fractionation device, were tested in phototaxis and geotaxis mazes. While none of the mutations caused an altered ERG, they all caused photomaze behavior to differ from that seen in Canton-S controls. Eight of the mutants showed altered geotactic behavior. There was no correlation between the kind of change in phototactic behavior and the geomaze behavior of a given mutant. Certain mutations cause flies to be more photopositive and more geonegative than Canton-S; others result in behavior that is photo- and geopositive. The results suggest that certain mutations may be affecting visual components other than the ERG while other mutations may be more centrally or generally acting.

Notes: Abstract Wild-type (+B) and compound chromosome mutant(bB) Drosophila melanogaster larvae were tested in a U-maze. FreshDrosophila food or food and larvae were placed in each of the two goals (+B only in goal 1,bB in goal 2) and served as stimulus. Separate trials were conducted using +B andbB larvae to test for preference in the maze. Significantly more test larvae went to the arm of the maze containing their own strain as stimulus when (1) both goals contained larvae, (2) one goal contained homogenetic larvae and the other fresh food only, and (3) the goals contained biotic residues of stimulus larvae. The strength of the stimulus necessary to elicit the response differed for the two strains, the +B strain apparently being more sensitive. As the density of the stimulus larvae was increased, the choices of the test larvae became statistically nonsignificant and the number of larvae remaining in the starting arm of the maze increased. The data suggested that the strains of larvae utilized here have the capacity for olfactory discrimination.

Notes: Abstract The thermogravimetric and gas-chromatographic behaviour of some bis-(diethyldithiophosphinato) chelates is described. Examples for the separation and determination of several inorganic cations (Zn, Cd, Co, Ni, Pb) are given.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Eine Mikro-Graphit-Küvette wird für spezifische quantitative Brombestimmungen nach der Indium-Methode bei 372,7 nm benützt und in Verbindung mit einem Gas-Chromatographen als Br-spezifischer Detektor eingesetzt. Die Leistungsfähigkeit dieses Detektors wird an 2 Beispielen (Äthylbromid, Dibromäthan) mit Hilfe von Eichkurven, Bestimmung von Nachweisgrenzen u. ä. demonstriert. Die Nachweisgrenzen liegen bei 5 bzw. 36 ng Brom für die 2 genannten Substanzen. Die Reproduzierbarkeit der Messungen liegt bei 4,3%. Ein Beispiel für die Registrierung eines Gemisches verschiedener Substanzen, gemessen mit dem GC + Flammen-Banden-emissions-Detektor (FBD) und zum Vergleich mit einem Wärmeleitfähigkeitsdetektor (TCD), wird dargestellt.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Eine flüssige Nahrungsmittelprobe wird nacheinander über einen Kationen-, einen Anionen- und einen Kationenaustauscher perkoliert. Die Zucker und die Säuren werden abgetrennt und im Eluat der zweiten bzw. dritten Austauschersäule gefunden. Ein Steuergerät schaltet auf Zeitbasis eine Gruppe von Pumpen und ein System mit pneumatischen Hähnen derart, daß in einem Cyclus (50 min) die Substanzen eluiert und die Säulen regeneriert werden. Anschließend werden die Proben verarbeitet. Einige Ergebnisse verschiedener Nahrungsmittel werden angeführt.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Eine einfache gas-chromatographische Methode wurde entwickelt, die auf der thermischen Zersetzung der Probe und der Bestimmung des dabei aus 3-Sulfolen gebildeten 1,3-Butadiens beruht. Der Einfluß der einzelnen Parameter wurde untersucht. Innerhalb eines Konzentrationsbereichs von 0,05–4,0% 3-Sulfolen ergaben sich Fehler von ±3%. Das Verfahren ermöglicht bis herab zu 10 ppm eine schnelle und empfindliche Bestimmung und eignet sich auch zum on-line Betrieb.

Notes: Abstract Organic matter is destroyed by acid oxidation in a Teflon bomb. Arsenic is extracted by dithiocarbamate, oxidized, and silylized by methyl-trimethylsilyl-heptafluorobutyramide. 0.1 ppm and more of arsenic can be determined by gas chromatography of trimethylsilyl arsenate. The method was controlled by radiochemical analysis. For the detection of arsenic, a flame photometric detector is not more advantageous than a flame ionisation detector.

Notes: Abstract A report is given on methods and apparatus for the qualitative and quantitative determination of ether groups in cellulose derivatives with one or more alkoxyl and hydroxyalkyl groups (C1-nC4). Ether splitting generally takes place with hydriodic acid and in special cases with hydrobromic acid. The resulting reaction products are monoiodoalkanes and alkenes or monobromoalkanes and dibromoalkanes, which are subjected to gas chromatographic separation and identified via the retention time and quantitatively evaluated by titration or via the gas chromatogram.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Die statistischen Momente können zur Erhöhung der Aussagekraft von GC-Daten verwendet werden. Diese Berechnungen können auf dem Weg der Statistik direkt oder mittels numerischer Laplace-Transformation durchgeführt werden. Es wurde festgestellt, daß die direkte statistische Bestimmung der numerischen Laplace-Transformation vorzuziehen ist.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Die Abtrennung der Steroide aus der Injektionslösung erfolgt durch Extraktion mit Acetonitril und n-Hexan. Zur Gas-Chromatographie werden die Östradiolester in die Mono-trimethylsilylderivate übergeführt. Als stationäre Phase dient vorzugsweise Dexsil 400. Zur quantitativen Bestimmung wird Mestranol als inneren Standard benutzt. Eine vollständige Trennung der Ester läßt sich innerhalb von 12 min erreichen. Die relative Standardabweichung liegt im Bereich von 1–1,5%.