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Long-chain fatty acids and ethanol affect the properties of membranes inDrosophila melanogaster larvae

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Abstract

The larval fatty acid composition of neutral lipids and membrane lipids was determined in three ethanol-tolerant strains ofDrosophila melanogaster. Dietary ethanol promoted a decrease in long-chain fatty acids in neutral lipids along with enhanced alcohol dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.1) activity in all of the strains. Dietary ethanol also increased the incorporation of14C-ethanol into fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) by two- to threefold and decreased the incorporation of14C-ethanol into free fatty acids (FFA). When cultured on sterile, defined media with stearic acid at 0 to 5 mM, stearic acid decreased ADH activity up to 33%. In strains not selected for superior tolerance to ethanol, dietary ethanol promoted a loss of long-chain fatty acids in membrane lipids. The loss of long-chain fatty acids in membranes was strongly correlated with increased fluidity in hydrophobic domains of mitochondrial membranes as determined by electron spin resonance and correlated with a loss of ethanol tolerance. In the ethanol-tolerant E2 strain, which had been exposed to ethanol for many generations, dietary ethanol failed to promote a loss of long-chain fatty acids in membrane lipids.

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Author notes

  1. Robert R. Miller Jr.

    Present address: Biology Department, Grand View College, 50316-1599, Des Moines, Iowa

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Knox College, 61401-4999, Galesburg, Illinois

    Robert R. Miller Jr., Marcie L. Moore & Billy W. Geer

  2. Department of Chemistry, Knox College, 61401-4999, Galesburg, Illinois

    Amos O. Dare & Robert G. Kooser

  3. School of Medicine, Yale University, 06516, New Haven, Connecticut

    Amos O. Dare

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  1. Robert R. Miller Jr.
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  5. Billy W. Geer
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Additional information

We are grateful for the support of National Institutes of Health Grant AA06702 (B.W.G.) and National Science Foundation Grant CHE-891987 (R.G.K.).

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Miller, R.R., Dare, A.O., Moore, M.L. et al. Long-chain fatty acids and ethanol affect the properties of membranes inDrosophila melanogaster larvae. Biochem Genet 31, 113–131 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02399919

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02399919

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