Genetic and biochemical characterization of little isoxanthopterin (lix), a gene controlling dihydropterin oxidase activity in Drosophila melanogaster

Silva, Francisco J.; Escriche, Baltasar; Ordoño, E.; Ferré, Juan

doi:10.1007/bf00290656

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Although studies of the presence of particular pteridines in insects and the biochemical pathways associated with their accumulation continue (e.g. Fan et al, 1976;Parisi et al, 1976;Silva et al, 1991), the link between these processes and the behavioral and ecological factors that modify them unfortunately remains obscure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age determination in individual wild-caughtDrosophila serratausing pteridine concentration

Robson

Vickers

Blows

et al. 2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Fluorescence spectrophotometry can reliably detect levels of the pteridine 6-biopterin in the heads of individual Drosophila serrata Malloch 1927. Pteridine content in both laboratory and field captured flies is typically a level of magnitude higher than the minimally detectable level(meanlab=0.54 units, meanfield=0.44 units, minimum detectable level=0.01 units) and can be used to predict individual age in laboratory populations with high certainty (r2=57%). Laboratory studies of individuals of known age (from 1 to 48 days old)indicate that while pteridine level increases linearly with age, they also increase in a linear manner with rearing temperature and ambient light levels,but are independent of sex. As expected, the longevity of laboratory-reared males (at least 48 days) is higher than the range of predicted ages of wild-caught males based on individual pteridine levels (40 days). However, the predictive equation based on pteridine level alone suggested that a number of wild-caught males were less than 0 days old, and the 95% confidence limits for these predictions based on the inverse regression are broad. The age of the oldest wild-caught male is predicted to fall within the range of 2 to 50 days. The significant effects of temperature and light intensity determined in the laboratory study (effect sizes ω2=14.3 and 20.4%,respectively) suggests that the calibration of the age prediction equation for field populations would be significantly improved when combined with fine-scaled studies of habitat temperature and light conditions. The ability to determine relative age in individual wild-caught D. serratapresents great opportunities for a variety of evolutionary studies on the dynamics of natural populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age determination in individual wild-caughtDrosophila serratausing pteridine concentration

Robson

Vickers

Blows

et al. 2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…XDH has also been shown to oxidize a number of pterins in the wings of pierid butterflies [123], and mutations in this gene are associated with differences in coloration patterns in bumblebees [124]. Isoxanthopterin biosynthesis is also impaired in lix mutants, which lack activity of a yet unidentified dihydropterin oxidase that acts upstream of XDH [22]. Other genes linked to disruptions of key steps in the biosynthesis of drosopterin and aurodrosopterin in the eye of fruit flies include several homologues of mammalian genes involved with pterin and purine metabolism [125][126][127][128][129][130][131] (figure 2c), as well as the fruit fly gene for pyrimidodiazepine synthase [132].…”

Section: Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Pigmentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pterin-based pigmentation in animals

Andrade

Carneiro

2021

Biol. Lett.

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Pterins are one of the major sources of bright coloration in animals. They are produced endogenously, participate in vital physiological processes and serve a variety of signalling functions. Despite their ubiquity in nature, pterin-based pigmentation has received little attention when compared to other major pigment classes. Here, we summarize major aspects relating to pterin pigmentation in animals, from its long history of research to recent genomic studies on the molecular mechanisms underlying its evolution. We argue that pterins have intermediate characteristics (endogenously produced, typically bright) between two well-studied pigment types, melanins (endogenously produced, typically cryptic) and carotenoids (dietary uptake, typically bright), providing unique opportunities to address general questions about the biology of coloration, from the mechanisms that determine how different types of pigmentation evolve to discussions on honest signalling hypotheses. Crucial gaps persist in our knowledge on the molecular basis underlying the production and deposition of pterins. We thus highlight the need for functional studies on systems amenable for laboratory manipulation, but also on systems that exhibit natural variation in pterin pigmentation. The wealth of potential model species, coupled with recent technological and analytical advances, make this a promising time to advance research on pterin-based pigmentation in animals.

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“…The same is true for H 2 pterin oxidase which appears to have a low substrate specificity, also catalysing the final oxidation of other dihydropterins to biopterin, pterin, and 2,4‐dioxopteridine, respectively. To date, this enzyme has only been characterized in Drosophila (59) where it is encoded by the structural gene lix (60).…”

Section: The Pathway For Pteridine Pigment Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pteridine Pathway in Zebrafish: Regulation and Specification during the Determination of Neural Crest Cell‐Fate

Ziegler

2003

Pigment Cell Research

119

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This review describes pteridine biosynthesis and its relation to the differentiation of neural crest derivatives in zebrafish. During the embryonic development of these fish, neural crest precursor cells segregate into neural elements, ectomesenchymal cells and pigment cells; the latter then diversifying into melanophores, iridophores and xanthophores. The differentiation of neural cells, melanophores, and xanthophores is coupled closely with the onset of pteridine synthesis which starts from GTP and is regulated through the control of GTP cyclohydrolase I activity. De novo pteridine synthesis in embryos of this species increases during the first 72-h postfertilization, producing H 4 biopterin, which serves as a cofactor for neurotransmitter synthesis in neural cells and for tyrosine production in melanophores. Thereafter, sepiapterin (6-lactoyl-7,8-dihydropterin) accumulates as yellow pigment in xanthophores, together with 7-oxobiopterin, isoxanthopterin and 2,4,7-trioxopteridine.Sepiapterin is the key intermediate in the formation of 7-oxopteridines, which depends on the availability of enzymes belonging to the xanthine oxidoreductase family. Expression of the GTP cyclohydrolase I gene (gch) is found in neural cells, in melanoblasts and in early xanthophores (xanthoblasts) of early zebrafish embryos but steeply declines in xanthophores by 42-h postfertilization. The mechanism(s) whereby sepiapterin branches off from the GTP-H 4 biopterin pathway is currently unknown and will require further study. The surge of interest in zebrafish as a model for vertebrate development and its amenability to genetic manipulation provide powerful tools for analysing the functional commitment of neural crest-derived cells and the regulation of pteridine synthesis in mammals.

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Genetic and biochemical characterization of little isoxanthopterin (lix), a gene controlling dihydropterin oxidase activity in Drosophila melanogaster

Cited by 11 publications

References 29 publications

Age determination in individual wild-caughtDrosophila serratausing pteridine concentration

Age determination in individual wild-caughtDrosophila serratausing pteridine concentration

Pterin-based pigmentation in animals

The Pteridine Pathway in Zebrafish: Regulation and Specification during the Determination of Neural Crest Cell‐Fate

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