Alcohol dehydrogenase controls the flux from ethanol into lipids in Drosophila larvae. A 13C NMR study.

The dependence of the flux in the alcohol-degrading pathway on the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase was investigated in Drosophila larvae. Third-instar larvae were supplied with [2-13C]ethanol as a dietary carbon source. Specific carbon enrichments in de novo synthesized fatty acids were determined in vitro by means of 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Carbon fluxes deduced from these enrichment patterns were correlated with the in vitro alcohol dehydrogenase activities in three different Adh genotypes in seven different strains. The flux control coefficient for alcohol dehydrogenase was shown to be approximately 1.0. This indicates that the alcohol dehydrogenase gene-enzyme system in Drosophila larvae can be a major target of natural selection.