High-resolution two-dimensional gel analysis of proteins in wing imaginal discs: a data base of Drosophila.

An improved method of high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis has been used to study the patterns of protein synthesis in wing imaginal discs of late instar larvae of Drosophila melanogaster. A small number of discs were radiolabeled with a mixture of 14C-labeled amino acids or with [35S]methionine and the pattern of labeled proteins was analyzed. One thousand and twenty-five polypeptides (787 acidic (IEF) and 238 basic (NEPHGE] from wing discs of several wild-type strains have so far been separated and cataloged. All these polypeptides have been numbered and presented in a reference map for further studies. When comparing patterns of label we have found small quantitative differences in rate of synthesis between individuals of the same strain, not due to sexual differences, and very few quantitative and qualitative differences between groups of individuals of different strains.