Biphasic expression and function of glucose dehydrogenase in Drosophila melanogaster.

Glucose dehydrogenase (GO) was found to be expressed during the pupal stage in both sexes of Drosophila melanogaster, but is limited to the male ejaculatory duct at the adult stage. During copulation GO is transferred from males to females. Mutational analysis of the Go locus indicates that a single structural gene encodes the pupal and ejaculatory duct GO. Thus an example of an enzyme structural gene switching from non-sex-limited to sex-limited expression has been found. Go mutants are recessive lethals exhibiting a late pupal effective lethal phase. These mutants can be rescued by excising the anterior end of the pupal case 0-2 days prior to the normal adult emergence time. It appears that the function of GO in pupae is to aid in the degradation of the puparium cuticle in preparation for the eclosion of the adult.