Developmental analysis of lipids from wild-type and adipose60 mutants of Drosophila melanogaster

A comparative developmental analysis was made of lipids from wild-type and adipose60 (adp60) mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. The lipid content and fatty acid profiles of late third instar larvae, pupae, and mature adults were characterized in methanol:chloroform extracts utilizing thin layer and gas-liquid chromatography. Total lipid content of mutant adults was approximately twice that of the wild-type, but no genotypic differences in lipid content were seen in earlier developmental stages. No sexual dimorphism was observed in total lipid content, although fatty acid profiles revealed some sexual differences. Many stage-specific differences in fatty acid profiles and lipid content were developmentally associated with each genotype. Mutants tended to retain the larval phenotype in lipid content and, to a lesser extent, in fatty acid profile. In comparison to wild-type, mutants tended to have increased lipid saturation, especially in 16-carbon fatty acids in mature adults and in 18:0 fatty acids in late larvae and pupae. No significant difference between the mutants and wild-type appeared in the developmental profiles for 14:1 fatty acid isomers. Hence, adp60 does not alter the desaturation-elongation pathway, a secondary pathway for fatty acid desaturation in Drosophila, which received support from this analysis.