A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RING GLANDS FROM WILD TYPE AND 1(2)GL MUTANT DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Drosophila melanogaster homozygous for the second chromosomal, recessive lethal gene 1(2)gl form puparia much later than wild type (+) and are unable to metamorphose. Implantation of + ring glands accelerates puparium formation by 1(2)gl hosts. The ring gland is a compound structure containing the prothoracic glands (pg), corpus allatum (ca), and corpus cardiacum (cc). An electron microscopic study demonstrates that in both the pg and ca the most common subcellular component is smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulum (ser). In + flies the amount of ser per pg increases by ten times during the four hour prepupal period. In 1(2)gl flies which have spent two days in the prepupal period the pg looks juvenile and contains only 1% the amount of ser per cell found in the + prepupal pg. The ca cells look alike in both + and 1(2)gl individuals, and the cortical cells of the cc in both contain abundant neurosecretory spheres. We suggest that the + allele of 1(2)gl indirectly influences the synthesis of ser by the pg and that this is the site where dietary cholesterol is transformed to ecdysone. Copyright © 1969 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.