DOSAGE COMPENSATION IN DROSOPHILA: NADP-ENZYME ACTIVITIES AND CROSS-REACTING MATERIAL

John H. Williamson ¹ and Michael M. Bentley ²

¹ Department of Biology, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina 28036
² Department of Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada

The relationships between gene dosage, enzyme activities and CRM levels have been determined for G6PD and 6PGD. Enzyme activities and CRM levels were directly proportional and increased in genotypes carrying duplications of the respective structural genes. When a duplication consisting of the distal 45% of the X chromosome was used to duplicate Pgd⁺, 6PGD activity and CRM increased and G6PD activity decreased. When the proximal 55% of the X chromosome was duplicated, G6PD activity and CRM increased whereas 6PGD activity and CRM levels decreased. These observations support the model of dosage compensation of X-linked genes that invokes an autosomal activator in limited concentrations for which X-linked loci compete. The distal 45% of the X chromosome, when duplicated, caused a significant increase in NADP-malic enzyme activity and CRM levels, as if a structural gene for NADP-ME is sex-linked.

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