42 research outputs found
A Buoyancy-Based Screen of Drosophila Larvae for Fat-Storage Mutants Reveals a Role for Sir2 in Coupling Fat Storage to Nutrient Availability
Obesity has a strong genetic component, but few of the genes that predispose to obesity are known. Genetic screens in invertebrates have the potential to identify genes and pathways that regulate the levels of stored fat, many of which are likely to be conserved in humans. To facilitate such screens, we have developed a simple buoyancy-based screening method for identifying mutant Drosophila larvae with increased levels of stored fat. Using this approach, we have identified 66 genes that when mutated increase organismal fat levels. Among these was a sirtuin family member, Sir2. Sirtuins regulate the storage and metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids by deacetylating key regulatory proteins. However, since mammalian sirtuins function in many tissues in different ways, it has been difficult to define their role in energy homeostasis accurately under normal feeding conditions. We show that knockdown of Sir2 in the larval fat body results in increased fat levels. Moreover, using genetic mosaics, we demonstrate that Sir2 restricts fat accumulation in individual cells of the fat body in a cell-autonomous manner. Consistent with this function, changes in the expression of metabolic enzymes in Sir2 mutants point to a shift away from catabolism. Surprisingly, although Sir2 is typically upregulated under conditions of starvation, Sir2 mutant larvae survive better than wild type under conditions of amino-acid starvation as long as sugars are provided. Our findings point to a Sir2-mediated pathway that activates a catabolic response to amino-acid starvation irrespective of the sugar content of the diet
Production of dust by massive stars at high redshift
The large amounts of dust detected in sub-millimeter galaxies and quasars at
high redshift pose a challenge to galaxy formation models and theories of
cosmic dust formation. At z > 6 only stars of relatively high mass (> 3 Msun)
are sufficiently short-lived to be potential stellar sources of dust. This
review is devoted to identifying and quantifying the most important stellar
channels of rapid dust formation. We ascertain the dust production efficiency
of stars in the mass range 3-40 Msun using both observed and theoretical dust
yields of evolved massive stars and supernovae (SNe) and provide analytical
expressions for the dust production efficiencies in various scenarios. We also
address the strong sensitivity of the total dust productivity to the initial
mass function. From simple considerations, we find that, in the early Universe,
high-mass (> 3 Msun) asymptotic giant branch stars can only be dominant dust
producers if SNe generate <~ 3 x 10^-3 Msun of dust whereas SNe prevail if they
are more efficient. We address the challenges in inferring dust masses and
star-formation rates from observations of high-redshift galaxies. We conclude
that significant SN dust production at high redshift is likely required to
reproduce current dust mass estimates, possibly coupled with rapid dust grain
growth in the interstellar medium.Comment: 72 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables; to be published in The Astronomy and
Astrophysics Revie
The Amylases of Insects
Alpha-amylases are major digestive enzymes that act in the first step of maltopolysaccharide digestion. In insects, these enzymes have long been studied for applied as well as purely scientific purposes. In many species, amylases are produced by multiple gene copies. Rare species are devoid of Amy gene. They are predominantly secreted in the midgut but salivary expression is also frequent, with extraoral activity. Enzymological parameters are quite variable among insects, with visible trends according to phylogeny: Coleopteran amylases have acidic optimum activity, whereas dipteran amylases have neutral preference and lepidopteran ones have clear alkaline preference. The enzyme structure shows interesting variations shaped by evolutionary convergences, such as the recurrent loss of a loop involved in substrate handling. Many works have focused on the action of plant amylase inhibitors on pest insect amylases, in the frame of crop protection by transgenesis. It appears that sensitivity or resistance to inhibitors is finely tuned and very specific and that amylases and their inhibitors have coevolved. The multicopy feature of insect amylases appears to allow tissue-specific or stage-specific regulation, but also to broaden enzymological abilities, such as pH range, and to overcome plant inhibitory defenses
Development and Fine Structure of the Nervous System of Lethal(1)Optic Ganglion Reduced Visual Mutants of Drosophila Melanogaster
Structural and regulatory differences in amylase isoenzymes in germinating Brazilian barley cultivars
Ecdysone Control of Developmental Transitions: Lessons from Drosophila
The steroid hormone ecdysone is the central regulator of insect developmental transitions. Recent new advances in our understanding of ecdysone action have relied heavily on the application of Drosophila melanogaster molecular genetic tools to study insect metamorphosis. In this review, we focus on three major aspects of Drosophila ecdysone biology: (a) factors that regulate the timing of ecdysone release, (b) molecular basis of stage- and tissue-specific responses to ecdysone, and (c) feedback regulation and coordination of ecdysone signaling