Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
Eanes, Walter | TRUE, John | Gergen, John | Harshman, Lawrence.
Date
2015-05-01
Keywords
Adaptation, AKH, Metabolism, Starvation | Genetics
Department
Department of Genetics.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/77615
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
Control of metabolic flux, the flow of metabolites through a complex metabolic network, is of importance to understand how an organism is sensing, and responding to, nutrient changes in its environment. Metabolic flux control can be measured for, and a control coefficient assigned to, each enzyme in a pathway. Measuring metabolic flux control in multicellular organisms is complicated by the fact that nutrient sensing and metabolic flux control may vary by tissue type. Major effects should be detectable in genomic information, as enzymes with high control coefficients will exhibit genetic patterns of adaptation when the pathway is under selection pressure. I used genetic variation within and among populations of Drosophila melanogaster, as well as divergence between D. melanogaster and the closely related D. simulans, to identify candidate genes for experimental study. I then conducted experiments with candidate genes using tissue specific RNA interference knockdown, focusing on two enzymes comprising the glycerophosphate shuttle in the context of starvation resistance, adipokinetic hormone (AKH) signaling, the Drosophila analog of glucagon signaling, and Insulin/Insulin-like signaling. None of the genes that I studied had a significant effect on starvation resistance when knocked down in Insulin-like protein secreting cells. I found that glycerophosphate oxidase, but not glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, significantly increased the average time to death in starvation conditions when knocked down in AKH secreting cells. Because the glycerophosphate shuttle is important in transferring nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide equivalents between the cytosol and inner matrix of the mitochondrion, this result implicates the coupling of reduction-oxidation state with AKH signaling. | 99 pages
Recommended Citation
Lavington, Erik Nathanael, "Population Genetics and Experiments in Metabolic Enzymes of Drosophila melanogaster" (2015). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 3410.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/3410