Development capacities of mixed normal and neoplastic l(3)gl imaginal discs and neuroblast tissue in Drosophila hydei.

The pleiotropic mutant lethal(3)giant larvae [l(3)gl] of Drosophila hydei exhibits among other anatomical defects, hypertrophy of the larval brain and imaginal discs. both hypertrophic tissues when transplanted into wild-type female flies behave as fast growing and lethal neoplasms. Implanted into mature wild-type larvae they fail to metamorphose. When l(3)gl neoplastic brain tissue or imaginal discs were mixed with normal imaginal discs, cultured in vivo in the abdomen of adult females and transplanted into mature wild-type larvae, the following results were obtained. The invasive l(3)gl brain neoplasm, while fatal for adult hosts, had no effect on the metamorphosis of normal imaginal disc tissue. On the other hand, the noninvasive l(3)gl imaginal disc neoplasms when mixed with normal imaginal disc tissue inhibited its development and metamorphosis in the wild-type host. This inhibitory effect was not observed when the tissues were injected as separate implants into the same host.

The fate ofDrosophila hydei anlagen in heteroplastic transplantations.

Imaginal discs and larval brains of wildtype andlethal (3) giant larvae ofDrosophila hydei were transplanted into adult foreign hosts and examined after about 2 weeks. The transplants behaved very differently in different host species, viz. 6 species ofDrosophila, 5 other species of Diptera, and 3 species belonging to the Coleoptera or Dictyoptera, whereby the degree of incompatibility was more or less correlated with taxonomic distances. One notable exception was found in the cheese skipper,Piophila casei, an entirely compatible host.

Autonomous yolk protein synthesis in ovaries ofDrosophila cultured in vivo.

Immature ovaries ofDrosophila mercatorum were injected into young larvae and into adult males ofD. mercatorum, D. melanogaster, D. hydei, D. virilis, andZaprionius vittiger. These homo- and heteroplastic transplantations allow normal vitellogenesis to occur in the donor ovary. By SDS gel electrophoresis, we identified the major species-specific yolk proteins of mature eggs (stage 14) which were exclusively of donor-specific origin. Other experiments withD. hydei andZ. vittiger showed that, when females were used as hosts, the host-specific yolk proteins became incorporated into the donor eggs. When two immature ovaries, one ofD. mercatorum and one ofD. hydei, were co-cultured in males, again only the donor-specific yolk proteins were found in the mature eggs implying that these yolk proteins were not released into the host hemolymph.A parthenogenetic strain ofD. mercatorum was used to demonstrate the ability of transplanted immature ovaries to produce viable eggs which can give rise to fertile adults.The role of the species-specific yolk proteins is discussed with respect to the dual origin of these proteins during normal vitellogenesis, i.e., an autonomous synthesis within the ovary itself in addition to the well-known production by the fat body. Further experiments with pupae as hosts indicate that even in the absence of juvenile hormone and in the presence of high doses of ecdysone, vitellogenesis can proceed within the donor ovary.Based on these experiments, a new hyopthesis on the hormonal control of vitellogenesis inDrosophila is presented. We propose that yolk proteins derived from the fat body are controlled by juvenile hormone, whereas the independent and autonomous vitellogenesis within the ovary itself is controlled by endogenously synthesized ecdysone.

Drosophila egg chambers develop to mature eggs when cultured in vivo.

Egg chambers were injected into the abdomen of adult Drosophila. When cultured in this manner, even the earliest detectable developmental stage developed into fully mature eggs. Both isolated egg chambers and those still associated with ovarian structures developed equally well. Maturation occurred within host flies of both sexes in the absence of any hormone treatment.