Comparison between the molecular characteristics and the potential activity of X and Y nucleolar organizers from various <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> laboratory lines

1993

Heredity

Self Cite

We have used the supernatant of Bacillus thuringiensis cultures to follow variations of the ribosomal DNA content in a wild-type Oregon R line of Drosophila melanogaster. These variations are revealed by differences in the degree of resistance to the lethal effect of the supernatant added in the culture medium. Different X chromosomes, all originated from the same X chromosome, confer different degrees of resistance. Increases and reductions in the number of the X ribosomal DNA transcriptional units have been found and are correlated with variations in the degree of supernatant resistance. However, no significant variations in X rDNA content were observed between the initial line and this line tested 20 generations later. These results show that the X rDNA is subjected to frequent modifications that must be essentially complementary and thus originate from reciprocal molecular events. Variations of resistance have been observed in the absence of recombination between homologous chromosomes; this is in agreement with the hypothesis that unequal recombinations between sister chromatids are largely involved in the variations of the X ribosomal DNA in Oregon R wild-type strains.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

X chromosome variations of Bacillus thuringiensis supernatant resistance and ribosomal DNA content in Drosophila melanogaster wild-type Oregon R lines

1993

Heredity

Self Cite

High temperature of development and selection of Bacillus thuringiensis-supernatant-resistant females in a Drosophila melanogaster Oregon R strain

1990

Genetica

The supernatant of Bacillus thuringiensis cultures contains a thermostable toxin: the beta exotoxin or thuringiensin, which in vivo acts as a preferential inhibitor of ribosomal RNA synthesis. Added to Drosophila melanogaster culture medium, it induces, during the flies' development, a lethal effect that is, in our Oregon R strain, greater for females than for males. The authors have previously shown that a diminution of the ribosomal DNA amount increases the sensitivity to the lethal effect of the supernatant. From a stock subjected for several generations to a 28 degrees C temperature and more, they have spontaneously obtained a variant population where males and females have similar resistance. It is shown here that this difference between the two populations is expressed in the X/X female genotypes, and that there is a correlation between the sensitivity to the lethal effect of the Berliner Bacillus thuringiensis supernatant and the sensitivity to the effect of the 28 degrees C developmental temperature; genotypes resistant to the lethal effect of the temperature were positively selected when the temperature of development was increased. The better resistance of these genotypes could be related to more active ribosomal units on the X chromosome.

Increase in the resistance to the Bacillus thuringiensis supernatant effect in a Drosophila melanogaster wild type Oregon R line

1992

Heredity

Self Cite

We report here the genetical and X chromosome rDNA molecular study of two Drosophila melanogaster Oregon R lines. These lines differ extensively in the degree of resistance of the females both to the lethal effect of an increased temperature and to that of Bacillus thuringiensis beta-exotoxin, which is an inhibitor of the nucleolar RNA polymerase. The 3B line, whose females are resistant, came from an Oregon R population subjected over several generations to increased temperature, 28°C or over, while the other line is derived from the initial stock. Twofold variation was observed in the total number of ribosomal genes between the two lines. This variation applied to most ribosomal units, including the active ones. Variations among X chromosome rDNA content in a wild type population have thus been revealed using tests of resistance to the Bacillus thuringiensis beta-exotoxin. Additive variations in specific unit types between the two lines indicate that modifications to the rDNA content are not rare events.