ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE-NEGATIVE MUTANTS IN DROSOPHILA: DEFECTS AT THE STRUCTURAL LOCUS?

Marcia Schwartz ¹ and William Sofer ¹

¹ Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218

Sixteen Adh-negative mutants (induced by ethyl methanesulfonate) were examined for the presence of inactive alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) protein. Four techniques were utilized in an effort to detect this protein: hybrid enzyme formation, intra-cistronic complementation, sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis and antibody precipitation. Eleven of the sixteen negative strains showed evidence of inactive ADH protein and are presumably mutations in the structural element. These results are discussed in light of some recent models of gene organization in higher organisms.