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Science 8 July 1983:
Vol. 221. no. 4606, pp. 165 - 167
DOI: 10.1126/science.221.4606.165
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Articles

agr-Amanitin Tolerance in Mycophagous Drosophila

JOHN JAENIKE 1, DAVID A. GRIMALDI 1, ANN E. SLUDER 2, and ARNO L. GREENLEAF 2

1 Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York, Binghamton 13901
2 Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710

Six species of Drosophila were tested for tolerance to the mushroom toxin agr-amanitin, a potent inhibitor of RNA polymerase II. Three nonmycophagous species—D. melanogaster, D. immigrans, and D. pseudoobscura—showed very low survival and long development times in the presence of amanitin. Three mycophagous species—D. putrida, D. recens, and D. tripunctata—showed little or no sensitivity. Analysis in vitro indicated that this tolerance is not based on alteration of the molecular structure of RNA polymerase II.

Submitted on November 12, 1982
Revised on April 15, 1983

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