The heat-shock response was studied in Drosophila virilis strains with norm
al and impaired neurohormonal stress reaction. Flies from the latter strain
were shown to have the impaired heat-shock response. In this strain, trans
cription of the heat shock gene hsp83 is reduced and synthesis of all heat
shock proteins is suppressed. The neurohormonal stress reaction (status of
dopamine, octopamine, and juvenile hormone metabolic systems) was examined
in D. melanogaster strains having normal and impaired heat-shock response.
The impairment of this response did not prevent the development of the stre
ss reaction: in flies of both strains, the stress exposure resulted in an i
ncrease in the dopamine content and in a decrease in the activity of tyrosi
ne decarboxylase (the first enzyme of dopamine synthesis) and in the level
of juvenile hormone degradation. However, stress reactivity in mutant indiv
iduals differed from that in flies that did not carry stress-related mutati
ons.