Azk. Muhammadali et B. Burnet, ETHANOL TOLERANCE AND VARIATION AT THE ALCOHOL-DEHYDROGENASE (ADH) LOCUS OF DROSOPHILA-MAURITIANA, Heredity, 74, 1995, pp. 438-444
Drosophila mauritiana larvae are tolerant to ethanol as a supplementar
y nutritional resource at low concentrations. Higher levels of ethanol
(5 per cent) in the food adversely affect larval behaviour causing re
duced rates of locomotion and feeding which are associated with low la
rva-to-adult survival. Two codominant autosomal alleles Adh(S) and Adh
(F) controlling variant electromorphs of alcohol dehydrogenase are ind
istinguishable in their effects on ethanol tolerance in this species.
A comparison of larval behaviours shows that D. mauritiana has a lower
ethanol tolerance than either of its sibling species D. melanogaster
and D. simulans.