Nature 296, 853 - 855 (29 April 1982); doi:10.1038/296853a0

Effect of adh genotype and heat stress on alcohol tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster

B. Sampsell & S. Sims

Department of Biological Sciences, Chicago State University, Chicago, Illinois 60628, USA

The alcohol dehydrogenase locus (adh) is polymorphic in most natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster ¹⁻¹¹. Eight alleles have been identified on the basis of allozyme elec-trophoretic mobility and thermostability; two of these, adh^Fm and adh^Sm, generally have combined frequencies of 90%. In four widely separate locations these major alleles display a clinal change in frequency, that of adh ^Fm increasing with latitude and altitude^3−6,11. Biochemical studies have shown that the Fm allozyme (ADH^Fm) is more active, but less heat-resistant, than ADH^Sm(refs 12−14). The fact that these differences are associated with the geographical distribution of the alleles suggests that environmental temperature may be a selective factor in maintaining this polymorphism. We have investigated the effect of high temperature on flies having ADH allozymes with a range of thermostabilities and report here that flies which have relatively labile enzymes show reduced survival on alcohol-supplemented food compared with flies possessing more heat-resistant allozymes.

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