- Organism A: Fruit Flies
- Organism B: Homo Sapiens
- Drosophila melanogaster
- Drosophila simulans
- Drosophila sechellia
- Drosophila yakuba
- Drosophila erecta
- Drosophila ananassae
- Drosophila suzukii
- Drosophila teissieri
- Adh (Alcohol dehydrogenase)
- ADH1B (Alcohol dehydrogenase, prefered name: "All-trans-retinol dehydrogenase")
Comparing the Alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene of the Drosophila family with the Homo sapien's ADH1B gene, which is associated with alcohol intolerance, seems an interesting combination and further investigation of it can provide a unique opportunity to gain insights into the evolutionary history of alcohol metabolism and the genetic basis of alcohol-related traits in diverse organisms.
In humans, mutations in the Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH1B) gene have been associated with a number of health problems, including alcohol intolerance, flushing (redness and warmth of the skin after drinking alcohol) and an increased risk of alcoholism. However, these conditions are relatively rare and are usually caused by specific genetic variants of the Adh gene.
The Adh gene is present in fruit flies and other organisms. We are interested in finding out how this gene varies in fruit flies, what variations and similarities there are, in order to carry out an experimental study and thus be able to treat diseases caused by mutations in this gene.
The human ADH1B gene is an orthologue of the Drosophila melanogaster alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene. They derive from a common ancestral gene and have evolved to perform similar functions in those species. In this case, the human ADH1B gene and the Drosophila melanogaster Adh gene encode enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism.
It should be noted that although the function of the human ADH1B and Drosophila melanogaster Adh genes is similar, the specific mutations and regulatory regions of these genes may differ between the two species, resulting in differences in the expression and activity of these genes. This is exactly what we would like to exploit with our project.
The Adh gene in different species of fruit flies will have variations in its genetic sequence, but the overall function of the gene will remain the same, i.e. the gene will be responsible for breaking down alcohol and will therefore have a conserved domain.
Mutations in the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene can lead to changes in the activity and stability of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme. This can lead to alcohol intolerance and an increased risk of alcoholism in some individuals.
Specific variants in the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene have been associated with alcohol intolerance in humans, such as ADH1B alcohol dehydrogenase (prefered name is "all-trans-retinol dehydrogenase").
This variant result in reduced activity of the Adh enzyme, leading to a build-up of acetaldehyde, a toxic intermediate product of alcohol metabolism, in the body. This build-up causes the symptoms of alcohol intolerance, such as flushing (redness and warmth of the skin after drinking alcohol), tachycardia, nausea and headache.
(NOTE: It is important to note that not all people carrying these variants will develop alcohol intolerance. Other factors such as general health, diet and the presence of other genes that affect alcohol metabolism may also play a role.)
The results of the alignment of the Alcohol dehydrogenase gene from different Drosophila species against the ADH1B gene from Homo sapiens show that the identity percentage ranges from 34.55% to 38.75%, with the highest identity found in Drosophila simulans and the lowest in Drosophila ananassae.
These results indicate that although they have the same function, alcohol metabolism, their structure is not comparable, resulting in these low scores. In addition, to be sure, we performed a phylogenetic tree to measure the degree of differences between species. The result was that the human gene is far removed from Drosophila. This reaffirms the results of the alignment study.
This indicates that the Alcohol dehydrogenase gene has evolved differently in each of these species. Although the gene product is the only mostly preserved across the Drosophila species studied.
However, more research is needed to determine whether the differences in the Alcohol dehydrogenase gene affect alcohol metabolism in Drosophila and if these differences could be used to develop treatments for alcohol intolerance sickness.
Overall, the results of this study provide important insights into the evolution and function of Alcohol dehydrogenase gene in different Drosophila species, and may have implications for understanding the genetic basis of alcohol metabolism in humans.
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Drosophila melanogaster ADH gene orthologs (Note: the human ADH1B2 is not listed here, because it is a variant of it, which is orthologous too.)