Dietrich Bodenstein

The Transplantation of Ovaries between Genetically Sterile and Wild Type Drosophila melanogaste

Ovarian tumors are characteristically found in adult Drosophila melanogaster females homozygous for certain recessive genes (fes, nw and fu). Ovaries genetically destined to become tumorous do so even when they are transplanted to a normal abdomen. Normal ovaries transplanted to the abdomen of females homozygous for such tumor genes do not become tumorous. Therefore there is no evidence for diffusible tumorigenic agents as initiating factors in the development of the ovarian tumors characteristic of females homozygous for fes, nw or fu. Vitellogenesis is retarded in adult females homozygous for certain recessive genes (fs 2.1, ty and ap4). Transplantation of ovaries from homozygous females to the abdominal body cavity of females carrying the + alleles of the gene in question fails to cure the implant in the case of fs 2.1 and ty. Ovaries of ap4/ap4 genotype produce abundant yolk when implanted into wild type abdomens. Thus it is the abdominal environment of ap4 which is at fault, rather than a malfunctioning of the ovary.

Adipose tissue of Drosophila melanogaster: IV. The effect of the corpus allatum and synthetic juvenile hormone on the tissue of the adult male

Abstract A cytometric analysis was made on the adult adipose tissue of sectioned abdomens of normal and experimentally treated adult male Drosophila melanogaster . The cell size and proportions of reserve substances in the fat cells did not vary significantly over a 1-week period from 10–19 days of age. Ring glands transplanted from late third-instar, male larvae into male adults caused no significant changes in cell size and proportion of lipid in the male host cells. However, corpus allatumcorpus cardiacum complexes transplanted from adult D. melanogaster or D. virilis females into adult males caused the host fat cells to increase in size about 1.3 times and the amounts of lipid and glycogen deposits became significantly larger. Similar effects were obtained using corpora allata from D. virilis females. Synthetic juvenile hormone injected into males caused a 1.7-fold increase in cell size and the amounts of lipid and glycogen deposits increased significantly.