DIFFERENCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL-TEMPERATURE, ETHANOL AND SUCROSE ASSOCIATED WITH ENZYME-ACTIVITY AND WEIGHT CHANGES IN DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER

Activity changes of three enzymes (ADH, ODH and AOX) of Drosophila mel anogaster were followed under different environmental conditions. The influences of ethanol, starvation (no carbohydrates in the medium) and ethanol stress during starvation were studied at both 18 and 26 degre es C. Two strains that were monomorphic for different alleles at the O dh and Aldox loci but otherwise identical were used. The investigated environmental conditions affected ADH induction by exogenous ethanol d ifferently in the two strains. The different allozymes of ODH and AOX also responded differently to the treatments, We observed that the suc rose content of the medium on which ethanol exposure took place and th e temperature strongly affected the responses within any single strain , Correlations were estimated among the three enzymes in the larval an d adult stages of each strain separately. At both temperatures, differ ences between strains were observed in the patterns of associations of the response variables, in the larval, but not in the adult stages.