Genetics of esterases in Drosophila. V. Characteristics of the "pupal" esterase in D. virilis.

From analysis of the properties of the "pupal" esterase (p-esterase) in Drosophila virilis, it is concluded that it is heat stable, its electrophoretic detection depends on culture density, its expression is stage specific, and it is not a variant of esterase 2. It was also demonstrated that p-esterase, like esterase 6, is activated by injections of the juvenile hormone into larvae. Heat treatment of heat-resistant D. virilis stocks led to decreased activities of the juvenile hormone dependent esterases but did not affect those of the heat-sensitive stocks. It is suggested that heat resistance in D. virilis is related to some functional features of the system of modifier genes controlling the phenotypic expression of esterases.