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Influence of tryptophan and related compounds upon the action of a specific gene and the induction of melanotic tumours inDrosophila Melanogaster

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Summary

  1. 1.

    L-tryptophan mixed dry with brewers’ yeast, or dissolved in a yeast-agar medium, when fed to larvae of theSu-er bw; st er strain, caused an increase in the incidence of tumours from 4 to over 60%, and in the frequency of erupt eyes from. 9 to over 35%. When embryos were first exposed to pure oxygen, and the same individuals as larvae were subsequently fed tryptophan, the tumour incidence was increased to over 80 % and the erupt eye effect to 50%. Hence, the oxygen treatment must have a long-lasting effect that interacts synergistically with the tryptophan effect.

  2. 2.

    Larvae of this strain have been examined for tumours, and adults for erupt eyes, after the individuals were fed on media containing supplementary tyrosine, phenylalnine anthranilic acid, alanine, indole, serine, or indole plus serine. None of these substances equalled tryptophan in regard to either effect. With respect to melanotic tumours, serine was without effect; phenylalanine produced a slight increase; alanine, about 17%; and tyrosine, or indole plus serine, produced an increase to about 25%. The results with anthranilic acid, and those with indole, were variable in replicated experiments, but both compounds produced a significant increase in the incidence of tumours. In respect to erupt eyes, phenylalanine, or indole plus serine, was without effect. Anthranilic acid or indole produced a slight increase in erupt eyes. Serine, alanine and tyrosine each produced an increase to about 20%.

  3. 3.

    Both indole and serine, when fed alone, proved very toxic. When fed together, this toxicity is seemingly nullified; combination had no effect on the frequency of erupt eyes, and an intermediate effect on the frequency of melanotic tumours. It was shown that the reduction of toxicity and of the respective effects of indole and serine upon the suppression of melanotic tumours and erupt eyes was not due to the coupling of indole and serine by bacterial action.

  4. 4.

    The results obtained with tryptophan, when compared with those obtained with X-rays, oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, suggest the operation of a similar mechanism in these cases, possibly centred on the peroxidative conversion of tryptophan to formylkynurenine.

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Author notes

  1. Henry L. Plaine

    Present address: Department of Zoology and Entomology, Ohio State University, Colombus 10, Ohio

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

    Henry L. Plaine & Bentley Glass

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  1. Henry L. Plaine
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  2. Bentley Glass
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This work was supported in part by a contract with the Atomic Energy Commission, Contract-No-AT(30-1)-1472.

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Plaine, H.L., Glass, B. Influence of tryptophan and related compounds upon the action of a specific gene and the induction of melanotic tumours inDrosophila Melanogaster . J Genet 53, 244–261 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02993979

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