WRINKLED1 Regulates BIOTIN ATTACHMENT DOMAIN-CONTAINING Proteins that Inhibit Fatty Acid Synthesis.

WRINKLED1 (WRI1) is a transcriptional activator that binds to a conserved sequence (designated as AW box) boxes in the promoters of many genes from central metabolism and fatty acid (FA) synthesis, resulting in their transcription. BIOTIN ATTACHMENT DOMAIN-CONTAINING (BADC) proteins lack a biotin-attachment domain and are therefore inactive, but in the presence of excess FA, BADC1 and BADC3 are primarily responsible for the observed long-term irreversible inhibition of ACETYL-COA CARBOXYLASE, and consequently FA synthesis. Here, we tested the interaction of WRI1 with genes in Arabidopsis () and found purified WRI1 bound with high affinity to canonical AW boxes from the promoters of all three genes.

On the Long-term Stability of Clines in Some Metabolic Genes in Drosophila melanogaster.

Very little information exists for long-term changes in genetic variation in natural populations. Here we take the unique opportunity to compare a set of data for SNPs in 15 metabolic genes from eastern US collections of Drosophila melanogaster that span a large latitudinal range and represent two collections separated by 12 to 13 years. We also expand this to a 22-year interval for the Adh gene and approximately 30 years for the G6pd and Pgd genes.

Genetic perturbation of key central metabolic genes extends lifespan in Drosophila and affects response to dietary restriction.

There is a connection between nutrient inputs, energy-sensing pathways, lifespan variation and aging. Despite the role of metabolic enzymes in energy homeostasis and their metabolites as nutrient signals, little is known about how their gene expression impacts lifespan. In this report, we use P-element mutagenesis in Drosophila to study the effect on lifespan of reductions in expression of seven central metabolic enzymes, and contrast the effects on normal diet and dietary restriction.

Variation in Drosophila melanogaster central metabolic genes appears driven by natural selection both within and between populations.

In this report, we examine the hypothesis that the drivers of latitudinal selection observed in the eastern US Drosophila melanogaster populations are reiterated within seasons in a temperate orchard population in Pennsylvania, USA. Specifically, we ask whether alleles that are apparently favoured in northern populations are also favoured early in the spring, and decrease in frequency from the spring to autumn with the population expansion. We use SNP data collected for 46 metabolic genes and 128 SNPs representing the central metabolic pathway and examine for the aggregate SNP allele frequencies whether the association of allele change with latitude and that with increasing days of spring-autumn season are reversed.