Alcohol dehydrogenase controls the flux from ethanol into lipids in Drosophila larvae. A 13C NMR study

• Published in: The Journal of biological chemistry Vol. 266; no. 32; pp. 21399 - 21403
• Main Authors: FRERIKSEN, A, SEYKENS, D, SCHARLOO, W, HEINSTRA, P. W. H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 15.11.1991
• Subjects: Alcohol Dehydrogenase - genetics; Alcohol Dehydrogenase - metabolism; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Carbon Isotopes; Cell metabolism, cell oxidation; Cell physiology; Drosophila - genetics; Drosophila - metabolism; Ethanol - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genotype; Isoenzymes - genetics; Isoenzymes - metabolism; Kinetics; Larva; Lipid Metabolism; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Molecular and cellular biology; Ethanol; Enzyme; Insecta; Lipids; NMR spectrometry; Alcohol dehydrogenase; Metabolism; Fatty acids; Drosophilidae; Enzymatic activity; Arthropoda; Invertebrata; Drosophila melanogaster; Diptera
• ISSN: 0021-9258; 1083-351X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0021-9258(18)54651-2

The dependence of the flux in the alcohol-degrading pathway on the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase was investigated in Drosophila larvae. Third-instar larvae were supplied with [2-13C]ethanol as a dietary carbon source. Specific carbon enrichments in de novo synthesized fatty acids were determined in vitro by means of 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Carbon fluxes deduced from these enrichment patterns were correlated with the in vitro alcohol dehydrogenase activities in three different Adh genotypes in seven different strains. The flux control coefficient for alcohol dehydrogenase was shown to be approximately 1.0. This indicates that the alcohol dehydrogenase gene-enzyme system in Drosophila larvae can be a major target of natural selection.