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D Byers

Publications and source records attributed to D Byers.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Rearing in darkness changes visually-guided choice behavior in Drosophila.

To test whether visual experience can affect development of visual behavior in the fruitfly, Drosophila, we measured the visually-guided choice behavior of groups of flies reared in complete darkness, compared with controls reared in a normal light/dark cycle. We used a simple visual preference test, i.e. choice among four different visual targets each consisting of vertical black lines of a particular width on a white background, using a blind testing procedure so that the individual rearing histories were not known by the tester. Both groups of flies were strongly attracted to the vertical lines; however, generally the dark-reared flies were more attracted to the wider stimulus lines than were the control flies. Control experiments in which normally reared adults were kept for several days in darkness showed that the effects of dark-rearing were not simply due to being in darkness, but depended upon the timing of the deprivation. The results indicate that the development of visual behavior can be affected by visual experience in Drosophila and thus open the possibility of using Drosophila for genetic dissection of mechanisms of visual plasticity.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Expression of bioluminescence by Escherichia coli containing recombinant Vibrio harveyi DNA.

When isogenic strains of Escherichia coli, RR1 (rec+) and HB101 (recA), were transformed with mapped recombinant plasmids known to contain Vibrio harveyi luciferase genes and large regions of DNA flanking on both sides, a small percentage (0.005%) of the colonies expressed high levels of luminescence (up to 10(12) quanta s-1 ml-1) in the absence of added aldehyde. The altered ability to express light was found to be due to a mutation in the host and not to an alteration in the recombinant DNA. When these bright colonies were cured of plasmid, they could be retransformed with cloned V. harveyi gene fragments in cis and in trans to yield luminescent colonies at 100% frequency. The maximum length of V. harveyi DNA required to produce light-emitting E. coli was shorter (6.3 kilobase pairs) than that required for expression of the V. fischeri system in E. coli. Cell extracts from bright clones contained wild-type levels of activity for the heteropolymeric (alpha beta) luciferase; fatty acid labeling revealed the presence of the three acylated polypeptides of the fatty acid reductase system which is involved in aldehyde biosynthesis for the luminescence reaction. The increased light emission in the mutant bacteria appeared to arise in part from production of higher levels of polycistronic mRNAs coding for luciferase.

Acylation↗
PubMed1985

Purification and characterization of a bioluminescence-related fatty acyl esterase from Vibrio harveyi.

Vibrio harveyi extracts contain three polypeptides (32, 42, and 57 kDa) which are involved in long-chain aldehyde biosynthesis and can be labeled with [3H] tetradecanoic acid (+ATP) and/or [3H]tetradecanoyl-CoA. These proteins have been separated from other labeled bands by ammonium sulfate fractionation, and the 32-kDa polypeptide has been further purified to homogeneity by ion-exchange, gel filtration, and hydroxylapatite chromatography. In aqueous buffers at pH 7, the 32-kDa protein catalyzes the hydrolysis of tetradecanoyl-CoA at a low rate (0.01 mumol/min/mg) to form free fatty acids. The thioesterase rate is slightly increased by phosphate, which also protects the enzyme against inhibition by the sulfhydryl reagent N-ethylmaleimide. Acyl-CoA cleavage is dramatically stimulated (up to 100-fold) by certain organic solvents, in particular glycerol and ethylene glycol, with the fatty acyl group being transferred to the alcohol acceptors. These enzymatic properties may be related to the role of the 32-kDa esterase in generating fatty acids for subsequent use in the V. harveyi bioluminescent system.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1985

Drosophila mushroom body mutants are deficient in olfactory learning.

Two Drosophila mutants are described in which the connections between the input to and the output from the mushroom bodies is largely interrupted. In all forms of the flies (larva, imago, male, female) showing the structural defect, olfactory conditioning is impaired. Learning is completely abolished when electroshock is used as reinforcement and partially suppressed in reward learning with sucrose. No influence of the mushroom body defect on the perception of the conditioning stimuli or on spontaneous olfactory behavior is observed. The defect seems not to impair learning of color discrimination tasks or operant learning involving visual cues.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Vibrio harveyi aldehyde dehydrogenase. Partial reversal of aldehyde oxidation and its possible role in the reduction of fatty acids for the bioluminescence reaction.

Vibrio harveyi aldehyde dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the oxidation of long chain aliphatic aldehydes to acids, has been discovered to have both acyl-CoA reductase and thioesterase activities. Tetradecanoyl-CoA was reduced to tetradecanal in the presence of NAD(P)H, as monitored by the stimulation of luciferase activity by the aldehyde product (acyl-CoA reductase). In the absence of NADPH, [3H]tetradecanoyl-CoA was hydrolyzed to the hexane-soluble fatty acid (thioesterase). Inhibition data with N-ethylmaleimide suggest that a single active site on aldehyde dehydrogenase is responsible for all three enzymatic activities. The acyl-CoA reductase activity was maximal at low NADPH concentration (about 1 microM), whereas much higher concentrations of NADH (greater than 100-fold) were required for optimal activity. Further increases in NADPH or NADH concentrations inhibited both the acyl-CoA reductase and thioesterase reactions. On the basis of the specificity of aldehyde dehydrogenase for NADP(H), an improved purification procedure employing affinity chromatography on 2', 5'-ADP-Sepharose is described. Although fatty acid reductase activity could not be reconstituted, aldehyde dehydrogenase specifically stimulated the rate of acylation of the acyl protein synthetase component from the Photobacterium phosphoreum fatty acid reductase system. This observation, combined with the partial reversal of aldehyde oxidation described above, suggests a possible role for aldehyde dehydrogenase in aldehyde biosynthesis for the luminescent reaction in V. harveyi.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1981

Defect in cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase due to the dunce mutation of learning in Drosophila melanogaster.

Cyclic AMP is an intracellular mediator ('second messenger') in the nervous and endocrine control of cellular function, regulating different processes in different cell types. Although evidence is incomplete, it seems that cyclic AMP enhances the calcium-mediated release of neurotransmitter in some neurones. A simple form of memory in the mollusc Aplysia is probably encoded as a cyclic AMP-induced enhancement of neurotransmission at certain synapses of the central nervous system. The possibility that cyclic AMP participates in learning mechanisms may be explored using genetic mutants. For this purpose the fruitfly Drosophila is suitable as it is genetically well characterized and can learn through olfaction, vision or taste. We show here that independent searches for mutations of olfactory learning and of cyclic AMP metabolism, and for mutations causing female infertility have each led to the same gene--the dunce gene. Our evidence indicates that the normal dunce gene may specify a cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗
PubMed1976

dunce, a mutant of Drosophila deficient in learning.

Normal Drosophilia learn to avoid an odorant associated with electric shock. An X-linked mutant, dunce, has been isolated that fails to display this learning in spite of being able to sense the odorant and electric shock and showing essentially normal behavior in other respects.

Animals↗