In laboratory cultures of Drosophila melanogaster derived from an African population, the quantities of six out of seven enzymes (G6PD, IDH, GPDH, ME, MDH, PGM and ADH) were higher in Adh-FF homozygotes than they were in Adh-SS. In crosses between Adh-FF and Adh-SS flies, the differences segregated as co-dominant alleles of a single Mendelian gene closely linked, or identical, to the Adh locus. The generality of these associations was suggested by the study of a French population with a very different history and genetic background. The possibility that the associations were caused by artefacts of the immunodiffusion techniques, or to a linked inversion (In(2L)t), was excluded. Possible ways by which the Adh locus may affect the quantities of other enzymes are discussed.