Summary
To assess the likelihood of finding genetic variants for the three major yolk polypeptides (YPs) within the species Drosophila melanogaster, YPs from the five species most closely related to D. melanogaster were investigated. The relative positions of the three YPs were characteristic for each species, and in all cases the mobilities of the YP in the ovary corresponded to that of the YP in the hemolymph of the same species.
Different stocks of Drosophila simulans were found to have either of two forms of yolk polypeptide-2 (YP2). The YP2S polypeptide migrated more slowly than YP2F by an apparent molecular weight difference of about 700 daltons. The genetic factor responsible for this difference mapped to locus 35 on the X chromosome. The Yp2 allele present specified the mobility of the YP2 polypeptide in both the hemolymph and the ovary. YP1 and YP3 were the same in both Yp2 S and Yp2 F stocks indicating that they are not affected by the Yp2 gene. Densitometric scans of gels showed that there was more than twice as much YP2F as YP2S in the ovaries and hemolymph of homozygous animals. Yp2 S/Yp2 F heterozygotes contained both fast and slowly migrating YP2. The amount of each YP2 in Yp2 F/Yp2 S heterozygotes was about half that found in each homozygote. These dosage results suggest that this locus is the structural gene. Peptide mapping showed that the structural element contributing to retarded mobility of YP2S is unlikely to reside at either end of the molecule. These experiments suggest a cytogenetic location in which to concentrate further investigations on the genetic regulation of YP2 synthesis.
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Postlethwait, J.H. Genetic analysis of Drosophila vitellogenesis: A molecular weight variant of yolk polypeptide-2 in Drosophila simulans . Molec. Gen. Genet. 178, 253–260 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00270470
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00270470