Drosophila melanogaster metallothionein genes: Selection for duplications

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6519802

Lange, B W

The metallothionein genes of Drosophila melanogaster, Mtn and Mto, may play an important role in heavy-metal detoxification. In order to investigate the possibility of increased selection for duplications of these genes in natural populations exposed to high levels of heavy metals, I compared the frequencies of such duplications among flies collected from metal-contaminated and non-contaminated orchards in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Georgia. Contaminated of collection sites and of local flies was confirmed by atomic absorption spectrosphotometry. Six-nucleotide-recognizing restriction enzyme analysis was used to screen 1666 wild third chromosomes for Mtn duplications. A subset (327) of these lines was screened for Mto duplications: none were found. Cadmium tolerance test performed on F{sub 2} progeny of wild females failed to detect a difference in tolerance levels between flies from contaminated orchards and flies from control orchards. Estimates of sequence diversity among a subsample (92) of the chromosomes used in the duplication survey, including all 27 Mtn duplication chromosomes, were obtained using four-nucleotide-recognizing restriction enzyme analysis.

• Research Organization: Duke Univ., Durham, NC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6519802
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ABSORPTION SPECTRA
ANIMALS
ARTHROPODS
CADMIUM
CHROMOSOMES
DIPTERA
DROSOPHILA
ELEMENTS
FEDERAL REGION III
FEDERAL REGION IV
FLIES
FRUIT FLIES
GENES
GEORGIA
INSECTS
INVERTEBRATES
METABOLISM
METALLOPROTEINS
METALLOTHIONEIN
METALS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PENNSYLVANIA
PROTEINS
SENSITIVITY
SPECTRA
TENNESSEE
USA