Abstract
As Drosophila melanogaster occupies an important position within the test battery for mutagens and carcinogens, it is of interest to study the xenobiotics metabolism of this insect. Likewise, the genetic control of these important enzyme systems falls within this interest.
Our attempt was to get new strains, which show changes in their xenobiotics metabolism. This was done by a mutagenization and selection procedure for the second chromosome. The 44 fertile homozygous inbred strains produced by this selection were first tested for DDT resistance. Some of them showed LT50 values which were remarkably higher than that of the original strain Berlin K.
Aflatoxin B1 metabolism in two of the new strains (H349 and H362), Berlin K, and Hikone-R was compared, whilst aldrin epoxidase activity was compared in strains H349, H362, Berlin K, vestigial, and Karsnäs-R. The metabolism studies were carried out in vitro with testes tissue of the different strains. The metabolism in testes is of specific interest because this tissue is most often used in mutagenicity testing.
In the AFB1 assays of the up to 12 observed metabolites three could be identified as AFB2a, AFM1, and AFR0. Hikone-R produced mostly AFR0 (3.43% of the initial AFB1 concentration) and small amounts of AFM1 (0.59% AF) and AFB2a (0.36% AF). The strain Berlin K showed only a low production of AFB2a (0.48% AF), while the strain H349 formed AFR0 (6.02% AF) and AFM1 (0.75% AF). The AFM1 appeared in even higher amounts than with Hikone-R. On the other hand, H362 showed the lowest activity in AFB1 metabolism. With this strain none of the determined metabolites could be detected in levels significantly higher than the control. The difference between H349 and the original strain Berlin K was highly significant. The production of AFR0 and the binding of aflatoxin to macromolecules show a linear correlation. In both parameters measured, the strain H349 yielded the highest results. The determination of aldrin epoxidase activity gave the following results (in pmol dieldrin · mg−1 protein · min−1): H349: 0.74; Karsnäs-R: 0.57; vestigial: 0.57; Berlin K: 0.32; H362: 0.27. Again the difference between H349 and Berlin K was statistically significant. The measured activities match values obtained with extrahepatic tissue of mammals.
It is concluded that the line H349 is a mutant in the xenobiotic metabolism. For the strains Hikone-R, Karsnäs-R, and H349 AFR0 could be confirmed to be the main metabolite of AFB1. The metabolism pattern was shown to differ strongly from strain to strain.
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Abbreviations
- AFB1, AFB22a and AFM1 :
-
aflatoxins b1, B2a, and m1
- AFR0 :
-
aflatoxicol
- DDT:
-
1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) ethane
- EMS:
-
ethyl methanesulfonate
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Foerster, R.E., Würgler, F.E. In vitro studies on the metabolism of aflatoxin B1 and aldrin. Arch Toxicol 56, 12–17 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00316345
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00316345